John Updikes A & P

366 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analysis of a&p john updike

John Updike's "A & P"

Do you remember the grocery store chain A&P? The letters stand for "Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company," and the store used to be one of the most popular in the United States.

The third person narrator of a story (or poem, play, or novel) is not the same person as the author. The narrator of this story is named Sammy, which is a kid's or teenager's name; what we call Sammy's "voice," or his own particular way of thinking, comes through very clearly because he is the narrator. His "voice" reveals him to be a dissatisfied young adult male. Sammy is our first example of a narrator who is also a character. Sammy is what we call a 1st person narrator:

1st person: I am Plural: we

2nd person: you are Plural: you are

3rd person: he, she, it is Plural: they are

A first-person narrator can present certain problems; e.g., he or she may have something to hide, and so may not be telling us the entire truth, or he or she may not know the entire truth. Do you see any problems in this area regarding Sammy? Judging by his tone of voice--the way he sounds--what kind of person do you think Sammy is? Is he a smart-ass? Is he just a bored kid?

Sammy is bored. His entire world consists of the grocery store, which is artificially heated and cooled, and has everything one could ever need in the way of food and many other products. However, Sammy has been in his dead-end job for so long that he has contempt for his customers: he calls them "sheep." One day, when three girls walk into the store, Sammy is strongly attracted to one of them.

Show More
Related

  • 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 takes place in 1961, in a small New England town's A&P grocery store.  Sammy, the narrator, is introduced as a grocery checker and an observer of the store's patrons.  He finds himself fascinated by a particular group of girls.  Just in from the beach and still in their bathing suits, they are a stark contrast, to the otherwise plain store interior.  As they go about their errands, Sammy observes the reactions, of the other customers, to this trio of young women.  He uses the word "Sheep" to describe the store regulars, as they seem to follow one and other, in their actions and reactions.  The girls, however, appear to be unique in all aspects of their beings: walking, down the isles, against the grain: going barefoot and in swim suits, amongst the properly attired clientele. They are different and this is what catches and holds Sammy's attention.  He sees them in such detail, that he can even see the queen of the bunch.  Sammy observes their movements and gestures, up until the time of their checkout.  At which point, they are confronted by the store manager and chastised for their unacceptable appearance.  He believes their attire to be indecent.  Sammy, feeling that the managerial display was unnecessary and unduly embarrassing for the girls, decides to quit his position as checker.  Thought he knows that his decision may be hasty, he knows that he has to follow through and he can never go back.  He leaves, with a clean conscious, but the burden of not knowing what the future has in store.

    Read More

  • Finding Identity in John Updike´s A&P

    1366 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sammy’s decision in the end to break away from the conformity that is in the A&P to establish himself is a raw truthful decision. He has chosen to follow his heart which Updike shows is what every person should do. This story is great for readers of all ages, because Sammy could be any person in modern contemporary society who is struggling to find themselves in a world dominated by conformity, rules, and standards of norms. Updike’s story is a powerful message to seek individualism. Although sometimes the road to self-identity is not known the journey getting there is worth all the while.

    Read More

  • The Issues Of George Washington

    668 Words  | 2 Pages

    Another extremely important issue Washington faced was that of the Whiskey Rebellion. The whisky rebellion started when a tax was placed upon distilled liquor. The farmers of Pennsylvania completely infuriated at the taxed because Whisky was their most profitable product and their form of money. In 1794, they set up an armed uprising against the taxes. Alarmed by the attack, and following Hamilton’s advice, Washington sent over 12,000 troops into Pennsylvania for peace keeping. This was the first time a national militia was ever used in the new country. Washington’s decision proved to the people that Congress finally had th...

    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

  • An Analysis of John Updike's A&P

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sammy is a 19-year-old boy conveying a cocky but cute male attitude. He describes three girls entering the A & P, setting the tone of the story. "In walk these three girls in nothing but bathing suits. There was this chunky one, with the two piece-it was bright green and the seams on the bra were still sharp and her belly was still pretty pale...there was this one, with one of those chubby berry-faces, the lips all bunched together under her nose, this one, and a tall one, with black hair that hadn't quite frizzed righ...

    Read More

  • Abstinence-Only vs. Comprehensive Sex Education

    2387 Words  | 5 Pages

    The primary argument which most advocates for abstinence only education have is that sex before marriage is immoral, not appropriate and that abstinence is the only completely effective method of preventing teen pregnancy and STI contraction. These advocates also emphasize that condoms are not a sure-fire way of preventing pregnancy and STI contraction. Many of the proponents for abstinence-only education believe that educating youth with information concerning sex and contraception will embolden them to become to begin or increase sexual activity. Such advocates accredit the lowering of teenage pregnancy to abstinence only education (Collins, Alagira, and Summers 12-13).

    Read More

  • Use Of Setting And Point Of View In John Updike's A & P

    717 Words  | 2 Pages

    William Faulkner writes “A Rose for Emily” in the first person, but this first person narration greatly differs from Updike’s Sammy. The narrator in “A Rose for Emily is unknown throughout the story, but he or she speaks on behalf of the whole town; in a way it creates a cumulative voice. In using a people of the town’s perspective, Updike creates a mysterious, suspenseful tone. When Emily buys rat poison the town’ people can only speculate the reason. “So the next day we all said, 'She will kill herself '; and we said it would be the best thing.” Updike utilizes by Emily Telling the story from this viewpoint limits

    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

  • Trapped by Society in John Updike's A&P

    785 Words  | 2 Pages

    People often take their place in society for granted. They accept that position into which they are born, grow up in it, and pass that position on to their children. This cycle continues until someone is born who has enough vision to step out of his circle and investigate other ways of life in which he might thrive. One such person is embodied in the character of Sammy in A&P, by John Updike. Sammy is the narrator of the story and describes an incident in the store where he encounters a conflict between the members of two completely different worlds the world that he was born into and the world of a girl that captures his mind. Through his thoughts, attitudes, and actions, Sammy shows that he is caught between the two worlds of his customers at the A&P.

    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

    I quit! These words can be attached to so many things in life. At times in life things seem to be different then they really are, for instance the thrill and the excitement of having a summer job or even successfully getting a first job. There are certain moments in a person’s life that will always have an impact on them one could call this a definitive moment or an epiphany. In the short story A&P by John Updike the main character Sammy has an epiphany in that he realizes that a moral line has been crossed in his working environment.

    Read More

  • John Updike A & P Analysis

    1015 Words  | 3 Pages

    Affirmation of Adulthood in Updike’s A&P       Researching John Updike’s story, "A&P", I found many readers agreed that the main character Sammy is viewed as a hero or martyr for quitting his job at an A&P store in a northern beach town. I did, however, find that critics disagreed on why Sammy quit. Initially it appears that Sammy quits his job to impress girls who were reprimanded for wearing bathing suits in the A&P.  Sammy did not ultimately quit his job to be the hero for three girls who happened to walk into this A&P.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis of John Updike's A&P

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Updike's A&P provides numerous perspectives for critical interpretation. His descriptive metaphors and underlying sexual tones are just the tip of the iceberg. A gender analysis could be drawn from the initial outline of the story and Sammy's chauvinism towards the female. Further reading opens up a formalist and biographical perspective to the critic. After several readings I began seeing the Marxist perspective on the surreal environment of A&P. The economic and social differences are evident through Sammy's storytelling techniques and even further open up a biographical look at Updike's own view's and opinions. According to an essay posted on the internet Updike was a womanizer in his own era and displayed boyish immaturity into his adulthood. A second analysis of this story roots more from a reader-response/formalist view. Although Sammy centered his dramatization around three young females, more specifically the Queen of the trio, it was a poignant detailed head to toe description of scene. I'll touch on that later.

    Read More

More about John Updikes A & P

Open Document