A & P By Updike Summary

Updike’s "A & P" tells the story of a checkout boy, Sammy, who quits his job after his boss Mr. Lengel speaks disparagingly to three teenage girls who come into the grocery store on a summer afternoon. But on a deeper level, the story is a contrast of worldviews: the conservative, conventional, and stoic (represented by Mr. Lengel) against the free-spirited, individualistic, and non-conformist (represented by the teenage girls).
Even though Lengel does not make his physical appearance until near the story’s end, his arrival has in a way been foreshadowed by a number of other characters who preceded him. For example, Updike notes that as soon as the three girls appear in the A & P, the "sheep" -- Sammy’s word for the run-of-the-mill customers who plod through the store, pushing their shopping carts, following their prescribed routes --

Sammy observes that the way Lengel insistently repeats this remark seems "as if it had occurred to him, and he had been thinking all these years the A & P was a big sand dune and he was the head lifeguard." Which, in a very profound way, he is: as not only the manager of the A & P but a Sunday School teacher, he feels he has the right to set the tone for what is considered acceptable in his arena. But his "sand dune" is the world of work, whereas the girls’ is the world of play.
He therefore approaches the girls and scolds them, implying that their attire has violated and desecrated his space. Note that his obvious displeasure at the girls’ appearance does not stop him from telling Sammy to ring up their purchase and take their money so they can leave. But this is too much for Sammy. He mumbles under his breath that he quits, and when Mr. Lengel asks him to repeat his last remark, Sammy complies -- pulling off his apron and walking out. Mr. Lengel warns him that "You’ll feel this for the rest of your life," and Updike writes that Sammy "know[s] that’s