A & P - John Updike

649 Words2 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.

Sammy's feelings for Queenie changes when he hears her voice. Her voice is normal and he has built this romantic image of her in his mind. Hearing her voice and realizing she is a normal person, (that happens to be wealthy) slightly changes his feelings for her. It brings him back to reality a little. “Her voice kind of startled me, the way voices do when you see the people first, coming out so flat and dumb yet kind of tony, too, the way it ticked over "pick up" and "snacks." All of a sudden I slid right down her voice into her living room.” Sammy feels as if he has no chance to get noticed by her unless he does something out of the ordinary. So after she is done arguing with Lengel, Sammy decides to stand up for her and quit his job in hopes that she will notice him.
The girls, and who'd blame them, are in a hurry to get out, so I say "I quit" to Lengel quick enough for them to hear, hoping they'll stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero. They keep right on going, into the electric eye; the door flies open and they flicker across the lot to their car, Queenie and Plaid and Big Tall Goony-Goony (not that as raw material she was so bad), leaving me with Lengel and a kink in his eyebrow.
As this is happening Sammy starts to see the stupidity of what he just did, but still quits since he already stated it he might as well do it.

Show More
Related

  • Sammy Makes a Decision in John Updike's A&P

    647 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Updike's short story "A&P" is about a teenager who has to make a serious decision.  The story is set in an A&P supermarket in a town north of Boston, probably about the year 1960.  As the plot unfolds, Sammy changes from being a thoughtless and sexist boy to being a young man who can make a decision, even though it might hurt him.

    Read More

  • An Analysis of John Updike's A&P

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sammy observes their movements and gestures, up until the time of checkout. At which point, they are confronted by the store manager and chastised for their unacceptable appearance. He believes their attire is indecent. Sammy, feeling that the managerial display was unnecessary and unduly embarrassing for the girls, decides to quit his position as checker. Though he knows that his decision may be hasty, he knows that he has to follow through and he can never go back.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of The Novel 'Bernice Bobs Her Hair'

    579 Words  | 2 Pages

    A) As the title already tell the reader, Bernice is the protagonist. She can be very unappealing at times, most because she’s a really boring and predictable character especially when most of her conversations with others lead to talking about the weather, she is also very naive because she doesn’t understand why she is unpopular with people or why boys don’t like her. At the end other the story though we like her because she seeks revenge on her cousin and sticks to her word even though it turns into a disaster. Marjorie, the cousin, at first is looked at as an antagonist because she talks bad about Bernice behind her back (which Bernice overhears), but then she is seen as a foil because she helps Bernice learn the ways to become popular, only to then regret this decision and takes it upon herself to tell everyone that Bernice didn’t actually bob her hair like she said. She then becomes the antagonist again. This shows that Majorie is self-centered because she doesn’t want Bernice to take the ‘limelight’...

    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

  • Exploring Quapaw Tribe's Higher Education Journey

    1053 Words  | 3 Pages

    River and Oklahoma. Before doing the research for this essay I did know some of the information like the translation of the Quapaw name. However I learned more than I ever knew before, it was very interesting to learn more about the Tribe. A topic that could make for a good essay would be learning more about ceremonies and cultural practices so that young tribe members can connect with tribal culture more. Questions I still have about the tribe are how much of an influence did the French have on the Quapaw culture, and I would be interested in learning more about modern history of the tribe after the timeline ends? I feel incredibly grateful to be part of the Quapaw tribe, to be part of an amazing culture that I can learn about. Learning more about the tribe has made me even more interested in the cultural and more grateful to be part of something beautiful. I love that I am a member of the Quapaw tribe it is a huge part of my

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Booker T Washington Speech

    66 Words  | 1 Pages

    Booker T. Washington indicates equivocal descriptions to explain the importance of education for the black

    Read More

  • The Choctaw Tribe

    1333 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...gths. They also took initiative to make their new lives in Oklahoma better than in Mississippi. I feel that this was a very rewarding project, in that I got to learn about the hardships and conflicts this tribe had to go through. It's amazing what people do to save themselves and their heritage, and I've learned this from the Choctaw Tribe.

    Read More

  • Growth of Sammy in John Updike's A&P

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    At the beginning of A&P, Sammy notices that three girls have walked into the store with only there bathing suits on.  At first, poor Sammy cannot see the girls because he was at register 3 with his back toward the door.  When they finally get into his sight, he immediately size the girls up.  "The one that caught my eye first was the one in the placid 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."  He also gives a description of the other two girls.  He says one has "a chubby berry-faces, her lips all bunched  together under her nose and the tall one, with black hair that hadn't quite frizzed right, and one of these sunburns right across under the eyes and a chin that was too long--you know, the kind of girl other girls think is very "striking" and "attractive" but never quite makes it, as they very well know, which is why they like her so much."  This comments illustrate his immaturity.  Sammy refers to one of the girls as queen.  He calls her queen because she seems to be the leader. ...

    Read More

  • Big Tall Goony Short Story

    191 Words  | 1 Pages

    It was a slow Thursday at the A&P. Customers come and grab their items from their lists, before mindless strolling down the aisles. Sammy, the protagonist, is wringing up some customers items, when three girls enter the store with nothing but a two piece swimsuits and barefoot. Sammy watches them in shock at the scene. There was a chubby girl with a plaid green two piece, later reference as Plaid. Another girl was tall, had frizzy black hair, and has a long chin, her nickname was Big Tall Goony-Goony. Finally there was the leader, Queenie, who Sammy can’t stop thinking about. Every little thing about her and what she does, Sammy narrates. Then the store manager enters the store, and tells the girls that they can’t dress like that in the store,

    Read More

  • Dynamic Character In John Updike's A & P

    951 Words  | 2 Pages

    He criticizes his family and their background when he says, “when my parents have somebody over they get lemonade and if it’s a real racy affair, Schlitz in tall glasses with ‘They’ll do it every time’ cartoons stenciled on.” Sammy desires to move from a blue collar to a white collar family to differentiate him from his family. He shows his growing maturity when he says, “the girls who’d blame them, are in a hurry to get out, so I say ‘I quit’ to Lengal quick enough for them to hear, hoping they’ll stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero.” He wants to be noticed by the girls for his selfless act of quitting his job for them. His plan does not work though, and the girls leave him to face Lengal alone. Lengal confronts Sammy and says, “Sammy, you don’t want to do this to your mom and dad.” Sammy ponders Lengal’s comment and thinks to himself, “It’s true, I don’t. But it seems to me that once you begin a gesture it’s fatal not to go through with it.” Sammy has begun to reach maturity and now wants to make his own decisions concerning his future and how he spends

    Read More

  • John Updike A & P Transition Into Adulthood

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sammy watches every step the girls take while criticizing and admiring them at the same time. His observations of the leader who he refers to as Queenie and her followers give him an insight of who they are personally. Sammy likes Queenie as she possesses confidence which sets her apart from the group. Sammy, still being a young boy likes that her bathing suit has “slipped on her a little bit” (Updike 158). Updike conveys the obvious that Sammy cannot look away from Queenie when “there was nothing between the top of the suit and the top of her head except just her”. Updike includes these small details and imagery to indulge the reader in the perception that Sammy at this point in his life is a clueless teenage

    Read More

  • W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington

    1226 Words  | 3 Pages

    W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington were two very influential leaders in the black community during the late 19th century, early 20th century. However, they both had different views on improvement of social and economic standing for blacks. Booker T. Washington, an ex-slave, put into practice his educational ideas at Tuskegee, which opened in 1881. Washington stressed patience, manual training, and hard work. He believed that blacks should go to school, learn skills, and work their way up the ladder. Washington also urged blacks to accept racial discrimination for the time being, and once they worked their way up, they would gain the respect of whites and be fully accepted as citizens. W.E.B. Du Bois on the other hand, wanted a more aggressive strategy. He studied at Fisk University in Tennessee and the University of Berlin before he went on to study at Harvard. He then took a low paying research job at the University of Pennsylvania, using a new discipline of sociology which emphasized factual observation in the field to study the condition of blacks. The first study of the effect of urban life on blacks, it cited a wealth of statistics, all suggesting that crime in the ward stemmed not from inborn degeneracy but from the environment in which blacks lived. Change the environment, and people would change too; education was a good way to go about it. The different strategies offered by W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington in dealing with the problems of poverty and discrimination faced by Black Americans were education, developing economic skills, and insisting on things continually such as the right to vote. ...

    Read More

  • A & P By John Updike Analysis

    487 Words  | 1 Pages

    A&P at first seemed to me like a story about a young boy attracted to a girl who came into a A&P store where he worked. She was scolded by his boss, causing Sammy, the narrator of the story, to became upset and quit his job. Sacrifices were made then later on regretted. Reading this story again for a second time, I was able to understand it more. The story at first seemed to rush in with three girls arriving at the store. As you read on there is a lot of details. This story expressed that sometimes we have to grow up and make the right decisions regardless of the situations we may encounter.

    Read More

  • John Updike's A&P

    532 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lengel, the manager of the store, spots the girls and gives them a hard time about their dress in the store. He tells them, “Girls, this isn’t the beach.” He says that they are not dressed appropriately to come into this grocery store. Lengel’s words cause Queenie to get embarrassed and start to blush. Sammy cannot believe this and gets frustrated at his boss. He doesn’t believe that it is right to prosecute these innocent girls for the way they are dressed. He also states at this point that the sheep are piling up over in Stokesie line trying to avoid all the commotion the scene has caused. I believe Sammy takes this as the last straw in a long string of aggravations.

    Read More

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

    669 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Updike's "A&P" is about a boy named Sammy, who lives a simple life while working in a supermarket he seems to despise. As he is following his daily routine, three girls in bathing suits enter the store. The girls affect everyone's monotonous lives, especially Sammy's. Because the girls disrupt the routines of the store, Sammy becomes aware of his life and decides to change himself.

    Read More

More about A & P - John Updike

Open Document