John Updike A & P Summary

The story “A&P” by John Updike follows a day in the life of Sammy, a nineteen year-old boy, at his job at a convenience story. For a dull job, Sammy finds ways to entertain himself by thinking deeply and making judgments about the customers. He makes up elaborate stories about people who comment on how he does his job and is a little too observant when it comes to girls in swimsuits scanning the aisles. At the end of the story, he quits, but tries to convince the reader that it was a noble decision—he was doing it in the name of fairness. Sammy is shown as a judgmental, flippant boy who tries to accomplish getting the reader on his side when it comes to quitting his job through the use of metaphors, complex sentences, and rude diction.
Sammy

These metaphors are not necessarily the nicest thoughts, however, and they are triggered by minor events. After a customer calls him out on a mistake, Sammy describes her as a “witch about fifty” (220) and reduces her to a simple goal of “[tripping] him up” (220). He does not see his job as being very important, so any commentary on how he does it is met very defensively. Making up a detailed backstory about her just because she got angry that he double charged her is a tad dramatic. He is bored, and these literary devices are how he copes. After dealing with that customer, Sammy turns his attention back to the girls in swimsuits. They are more interesting than the checkout counter. How Sammy describes the girls reveals more of his judgmental nature. Paired with each description is some of his own commentary, subtly making fun of the girls, like when he said “you know, the kind of girl other girls think is ‘striking’ and ‘attractive’ but never quite makes it…which is why they like her so much” (221). By adding his commentary among the descriptions, the author creates solidifies a slightly sassy, but

Sammy wants the reader to believe he had good reasons for quitting his job, even if he does not feel that way himself. To do this, he describes the customers watching his manager chastise the girls as “sheep, seeing a scene” (225). This comparison shows he does not have very much respect for the A&P-goers. He sees the patrons of the store as mindless creatures in a flock. If his customers are nothing but sheep, then quitting his job should not be a big deal—by describing them this way, he is trying to convince the reader that anyone can deal with them, and he should not have to. He does not like his job, or his manager, which is shown when he says “[t]he girls, and who’d blame them, are in a hurry to get out” (225)—he also is in a hurry to get out. He makes his decision to quit in this sentence after a variety of clauses, bringing on a feeling on nonchalance. He strings so many phrases in a row, and flatly says that he quits in the middle of them. This structure implies that he did not see quitting as such a big deal, as long as it was for a “noble” cause like sticking up for the girls his manager embarrassed. To reinforce the deed behind his decision, Sammy describes himself as an “unsuspected hero” (225). The image of a hero he is trying to create for himself should make quitting seem like the absolute best option. Despite his job being basic and