A&P

909 Words2 Pages

I chose to write about the short story "A&P." The story takes place in a small town in the late 60's, in a vacation town of sorts with a general store, few residents. What I received from the setting, was a very low maintenance town where "everybody knows everybody" (very tight community) most likely old school beliefs and structures (religion, dress code, ethics, morals, ext…strict) and for a short time tourists come to live for a while, and in a sense shake up the foundation of the town a bit with their outside beliefs and values.

Well Sammy, the main character, is nineteen and has or had, as I should say after reading the story, a job working as a check-out clerk at the local A&P. (Alexadrov and Petrooshki Tea Company) When one day all hell breaks loose as three scantily clad young women strut into the store to buy Fancy Herring in Pure Sour Cream- 49cents, which is another big indication of the time, the prices of goods and also what people were buying. During this time "Stokesie" is introduced to us as the other cashier that is three years older than Sammy. (22) Well Sammy and Stokesie are overwhelmed with emotions as soon as they lay eyes on these ladies. Which I understand what is going being a guy/man and living in sort of a small town myself, where you know all the girls and their either taken or you just are not interested.

Then suddenly one random day a beautiful woman walks into work/school/a party that no one has seen before and your thoughts begin to start racing around your head and your heart rate increases a little bit. All you can think of is "Wow, I have got to talk to her." Sometimes we(men) over think like it states in the story, "Stokesie's married, with two babies chalked up in his head alread...

... middle of paper ...

...hose this story for the shear fact that I saw a lot of the same emotions and happenings in my life, but also a lot of unfortunate mistakes on the characters part which made me scratch my head and wonder. "How can you be so stupid and in denial of how one event leads to another, and to see how careless your actions are?" The story closes with Sammy coming to the realization of how his life will change, "My stomach fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me here-after." To one reading the story that was Sammy coming to terms with his rash actions awhile fully understanding the consequences.

Let's just hope he doesn't make any of the mistakes he made on that fateful day when three women whose names he did not know, mind you, changed his life, without either of them knowing it, for what I would guess to be quite some time. See what you women do to us!

Show More
Related

  • Truth about Sammy in John Updike's A&P

    1092 Words  | 3 Pages

    While it's true that Sammy finds the three scantily-clad girls who enter the supermarket attractive, as would any normal nineteen-year-old male, what is most notable about his descriptions of the girls, and particularly of the "leader" of the group, is that Sammy holds them in contempt. Once we get beyond the descriptions of their bodies, we see nothing but derogatory comments directed at them, including the derisive nicknames that Sammy assigns to them. Nowhere is this more evident than in Sammy's description of the leader, "Queenie." The nickname assigned to her by Sammy points out the stereotypical snap judgment that Sammy makes about her personality and social status initially, and to which Sammy rigidly adheres despite no real evidence of its accuracy. From the description of her "prima donna" legs, to his imagining of ...

    Read More

  • Desire In John Updike's A & P

    665 Words  | 2 Pages

    At the beginning of the story, three girls walk in with only bathing suits. As the story unfolds, a diligent reading of the description reveals that Sammy, the A&P cashier, desires the attention from the girls. As “Queenie” and her followers scroll through the aisles, the fellow costumers and the employee’s eyes were glued to their presence. The narrator is a teenager who works the checkout line. He does not notice them when they walk in, but as soon as he spots them he is glued and notices every detail about each of the girls. The author allows Sammy to have a dramatic

    Read More

  • Motif of Play in John Updike's A&P

    1066 Words  | 3 Pages

    Along with Sammy, the other characters involved in this story are three girls shopping in the A & P in their bathing suits, whom Sammy names Plaid, Queenie and Big Tall Goony-Goony; Stokesie, Sammy's married co-worker; and Lengel, the A & P manager. The "A & P" is told from Sammy's point of view. Sammy presents himself as a nonchalant and flippant young man. He appears to be somewhat contemptuous of the older people shopping in the store. However, near the end of the story, we see that he does take responsibility for his conscience-driven behavior and decision, revealing his passage out of adolescence into adulthood through the courage of his convictions.

    Read More

  • A & P - John Updike

    649 Words  | 2 Pages

    A & P takes place in a community inland that is sandy, yet near the coast. It starts out in the supermarket in which three girls in bathing suits walk in. One of these girls catches the eye of Sammy, which is working at the supermarket, Queenie. “The one that caught my eye first was the one in the plaid green two-piece. She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it, where the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the backs of her legs.” Sammy sees these girls and wants to be like them, free in a sense. As time goes on the girls finally get what they wanted and decided to check-out. They make there way to Sammy’s register where there comes Sammy’s manager, Lengel, to complain to the girls about their dress attire.

    Read More

  • An Analysis of John Updike's A&P

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    This story represents a coming-of-age for Sammy.  Though it takes place over the period of a few minutes, it represents a much larger process of maturation.  From the time the girls enter the grocery store, to the moment they leave, you can see changes in Sammy.  At first, he sees only the physicality of the girls:  how they look and what they are wearing, seem to be his only observations.  As the story progresses, he notices the interactions between the girls, and he even determines the hierarchy of the small dynamic.  He observes their actions and how they affect the other patrons of the business.  Rather, how the other people view the girl's actions.  His thought process is maturing and he starts to see things as an adult might see them.

    Read More

  • John Updike’s A & P, Richard Wright’s The Man Who Was Almost a Man, and James Joyce’s Araby

    1298 Words  | 3 Pages

    John Updike's short story “A&P,” centers on a young immature and morally ambitious teenager who faces down the generation gap and, rather than bending to the dictates of the elders, rebels against them, securing his rather insecure place as a young, unproven man. Sammy, the main character, describes the entrance of a group of young attractive girls into the supermarket, “In walk these three girls in nothing but bathing suits…They didn’t even have shoes on”.(864) Sammy is mesmerized by their presence that he cannot do his job. The supermarket manager, Lengel, scolds the visitors by exclaiming “Girls, this isn’t the beach”.(867) Within the few moments after Sammy dramatically quits his job in protest of the quite impolite treatment by Lengel he says to himself “…and my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter”.(869) Because of his youth, and certainly because of the extremes of behavior that the young are prone to demonstrate, Sammy perceives that his life will forever be damaged by his actions. Though we certainly understand that this is not the case, that no one’s life is inexorably ‘ruined’ by the decision to do something momentous, it is certainly quite charming to transport ourselves into a time in our lives when such passions ruled us. This image awakens in us the expect...

    Read More

  • An Opinion On A & P By John Updike

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    A reader can tell that Sammy likes the main girl that he gives the nickname “Queenie” to. He thinks that she is the leader of the girls and also that she is the prettiest. The way that Sammy thinks about these girls really puts the story into perspective. A person would think that a few girls going into a grocery store to grab some snacks is just a part of life, but to hear it in the words of Sammy, it seems quite fascinating. At one point a reader might think of Sammy as sexist, because in his own words, “You never know for sure how girls’ minds work (do you really think it’s a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar?)[…] (370). All in all, this is just the way that Sammy’s’ mind works; it is how he thinks about people. This is what makes it be known that he a younger man not from the current

    Read More

  • John Updike Irony

    908 Words  | 2 Pages

    The clients of Sammy’s workplace are described as having “Six children”(Updike 645) with “Veracious vein mapping their legs”(Updike 645) and ”haven 't seen the ocean in twenty years”(Updike 645). Through the details Sammy provides about the clients explains that Sammy is starved from the sight of a girl his age, and upon the first sight of a girl nearing his age, he is instantly attracted to her. The three girls in the store are Sammy’s rescue from the small tiresome town. The final point that proves Sammy’s heroic action are because of his lust for the girls is the theme of the whole short

    Read More

  • A & P, by John Updike

    1758 Words  | 4 Pages

    The beginning of “A & P” starts with the main character, Sammy, at work when three girls in nothing but bathing suits walks in. According to Lawrence Dessner, the A & P check out counter showed Sammy a sample of insult and indignity of ordinary people (317). He may not have liked the people that shopped there, but he received insight of the real world. A woman that was currently at Sammy's counter was middle aged and brought Sammy no sympathy to the shoppers; he sometimes mention them as sheep. His names of the shoppers also include insight of Sammy's view of the ordinary shoppers; Sammy did not care much for others.

    Read More

  • John Updike A & P Transition Into Adulthood

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    His annotation of the “women with six children and varicose veins mapping their legs and nobody, including them, could care less” (Updike 159) and “the sheep” (Updike 162) in the checkout lines are an illustration of his everyday repetitious life working at the A&P. He compares these women to animals showing his undeniable sophomoric juvenile behavior. John Updike depicts Sammy’s character as a typical young boy who thinks he is invisible to the idea that consequences apply to him. However, Sammy is granted the harsh actuality that he will no longer be given slaps on the wrist for radical decisions. His coworker Stokesie is twenty-two, married and has two children. Generally speaking, Sammy may still have childish actions but he understands that he does not want to work at the A&P the rest of his life.

    Read More

  • John Updike's A&P

    532 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sammy is astounded by three young girls that walk into his store in their bathing suits. He follows their every move as they peruse over the cookies and other goods. The first thing this typical nineteen boy recognizes is the one girl’s “can”. But then he goes on to say that this girl is one that other girls seems to think has potential but never really makes it with the guys. One girl though especially catches his eye. He starts to call her “Queenie” because of the way she carries herself and that she seems to be the leader of the pack. Sammy does nothing but watch her every move as they parade about the store. He even daydreams about going into her house with her rich family at a cocktail party. He notices everything about her and thinks there was nothing cuter than the way she pulls the money out of her top. His immature infatuation with this girl is one of the reasons Sammy makes the hasty decision to quit in the end.

    Read More

  • Social Class in A & P by John Updike

    372 Words  | 1 Pages

    As the student develops his essay, Sammy begins to compare the girls to other customers in the store. From “houseslaves in pin curlers” to “an old party in baggy gray pants” (2192 ), Sammy negatively characterizes customers in contrast to the leader of the girls, Queenie. To Sammy, the girl is someone that is not from their town. She is everything that every girl envies and wants to be. In contrast to Sammy, she will spend her summer vacationing while he spends it working. It is clear to Sammy that their worlds are different, however it is also obvious that he would like to explore hers.

    Read More

  • John Updike's "A&P"

    761 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story begins as if it is any mundane workday at the A&P. Sammy is a typical teen, making sarcastic comparisons of the customers in the grocery store. He calls one of his customers a "witch" and says the other customers are "house slaves" and "sheep." Sammy obviously dislikes the job, but finds ways of passing the day. However, from the moment the three girls enter the A&P to their exit from the store, you can see dramatic changes in Sammy. Sammy lusts for the young girls, and nicknames the most attractive to him as “Queenie”. The young girls dressed in bathing suits fascinate him, and although he is staring at them excessively, he negatively comments on the others for doing the same. As the girls walk past the older employee, McMahon, Sammy notices how he ogled the girls and pats his mouth. Sammy appears disgusted by his gesture and begins to sympathize for the girls. “Poor kids, I began to feel sorry for them, they couldn’t help it" (Upd...

    Read More

  • Analysis of A&P, by John Updike

    990 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story is a simple conflict followed by definitive action short story. It’s a wonderful portrayal of what a young man thinks and what he will stand for and what he will not. The fascinating part is how Sammy describes the young ladies as they enter the convenience store. Updike states “She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it, where the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the backs of her legs”. Sammy is only talking about one of the three young ladies in this description. The descriptive words in the story are very thought provoking; Updike refers to the girls derrieres as “cans”. Imagery and symbolism are used frequently through out the story; Sammy describes the shoppers inside the A&P Updike uses this description “sheep pushing their carts down the aisles”.

    Read More

  • Sammy and the Setting in John Updike's "A&P"

    669 Words  | 2 Pages

    Now that Sammy has chosen to become a juvenile delinquent, he realizes "how hard the world was going to be" for him in the future. He has left a life of safety and direction for one of the complete opposite, and he must be willing to accept the responsibilities of his actions, no matter the consequences.

    Read More

More about A&P

Open Document