Essay on A & P by John Updike

Before the girls enter the store, Sammy is unaware that the setting he is so judgmental of reflects his own life. Sammy feels that he is better than the rest of people at the A&P, referring to them as "sheep" and "house-slaves" because they never break from their daily routines. He also condescendingly talks about "whatever it is they[the

Sammy quits his job meaning to impress the girls that his boss, Lengel embarrassed. The essential reason for that is because he does not believe Lengel, his boss should have embarrassed the three girls as he did. A moment before Sammy quits he has a discussion with his boss Langel, "You didn't have to embarrass them." "It was they who were embarrassing us." Their discussion exposes how Sammy felt by the actions and words of Lengel which later in the story causes him to quit his job. There were many sections of the story where the main character, Sammy shows how unappreciative he was of his bosses words and actions, which indicate that he did not really enjoy his workplace. For example, in the story it says "That's all right," Lengel said.

Sammy quits his job at a local supermarket store, A&P, because of the way his boss is treating a group of girls who are walking around the store in their bikinis. Quitting his job and standing

Sammy’s assumption of others is immature and serves only as a distraction from his self-distain. He describes, in great detail, the three girls who enter

This concludes that the protagonist admired Queenie and desired to be with her. As the story slowly progresses, the protagonist focuses more on Queenie and later sacrifice his job to show what he could do for her. However, he didn’t seemed to achieve his goal, but later felt ease from quitting his job which the manager thinks he was a farm animal. His personality did change dramatically when he noticed that it was hard to face reality. From the deep analysis, they did reveal their personality within the story on how they acted and

Although Sammy's sexual thoughts had been aroused by Queenie, their casual defying of community standards had influenced more seriously Sammy's beliefs of rebellion. Sammy, being the sarcastic and observer of rules, compliments with Queenie's and her friends totally ignoring any rules. In paragraph 18, in an attempt to stand up for herself and her friends and to re-establish superiority, Queenie replied to Lengel, "We are decent." She was able to defend herself in front of the authoritative figure that Lengel represents. This incident proves to be the chance for Sammy to transform his wishes into reality. It gave him the opportunity to impress Queenie and at the same time to finally say out loud what his thoughts are without any fear of the outcome. "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.” This shows how quitting his job had been already lingering on his thoughts and how it was so easy for him to do so. Sammy all along had the intention of showing how he dislikes the society that the A & P environment had to represent in the

In the short story, “A & P” by John Updike, I believe that Sammy’s act of quitting was unquestionably a form of rebellion; however, it was additionally an act of him making a statement to show Lengel and the girls his masculinity and courageousness. Whether it be to impress Queenie or listen to his moral conscience and do the so called, “right thing” in his mind, the meaning of his actions reveal that at the end of the day, your decisions in the present effect your outcome in the future. I’ve inferred that Sammy realizes this as the story progresses as we can pick up on the various details about how he finds his job mind-numbing and repetitious leading him to realize that he does not want to spend the rest of his life working behind a cash register at A & P. The combination of his impulsive personality, raging teenage hormones, and the curiosity about his future all leads to him to make this impulsive decision which warrants himself as the unconscious target of his own rebellion. It is crucial for a twenty-first century reader to realize that this story takes place in the 1960’s; a time when the youth was reinventing their culture. From both the girls and Sammy’s viewpoint, it is obvious to see Lengel as the enemy here for he is the initial creator of conflict.

In John Updike’s “A & P”, he expresses the life of a young boy names Sammy, who works in a small food mart named A & P. It’s a coming of age story that deals with puberty taking over the better of Sammy and trying to come out the hero when in reality he comes out looking like a fool. There is also one other detail that cause inner and outer conflicts with Sammy that lead to life lessons and the realization that not everyone is happy where they’re at in life, but if you work hard enough, anything can happen.

John Updike aims "to give the mundane its beautiful due" in his works, and this is shown in "A & P" by how he writes about an ordinary day, in this case in a grocery store, and makes the whole aspects of that normal event interesting with vivid details so that the readers can see the beauty of life, which others may easily just think is mundane or dull. His also focuses on the life of a young 19-year-old man, Sammy, working at the A & P store, having a normal day until he sees three girls wearing bathing suits and breaking the store's policy by wearing bathing suits. When the manager, Lengel, comes in the store and tells the girls they need to be decent and embarrassed them, Sammy shows an act of rebellion and quits his job. Sammy felt that he needed to go forth with his action, but in the end, he goes through a feeling of ambiguity and wonder of what life has in store for him in the future to come, just like how any young man

“A & P” by John Updike offers a short-story read with unfeigned honest behavior of a young male. The story introduces the character Sammy from the opening. Sammy portrays a 19-year-old young adult in his act of working at the grocery store. The story speaks in Sammy’s point-of-view. What is important to this story is the boundaries of the environment Sammy is located, and the time constraints due through the setting.

As the girls hurry out of the store he tells the manager “I quit”(pg 18). He wanted to be the girls’ to think of them as their unsuspected hero who would defend them against the manager, but unfortunately he wasn’t good looking enough for them and the girls left the store without glancing back at him. The manager responds with “I don’t think you know what you’re saying”( pg 19)which Sammy responds with “I know you don’t… but i do”(pg 19), and with that he takes off his apron and walks out the store. Once he’s outside he looks around for “his girls”, who were long gone. Then the reality that he was going to have to find a new job came down on

A&P takes place in a small town in New England. Sammy is a kid working the register at the A&P store. The story is told through Sammy’s point of view. Three young girls in bathing suits enter the A&P grocery store. Sammy evaluates how they appear and analyses their personalities and reasoning for walking into the store with the clothing that they had on. Sammy takes special notice of one girl, who seems to lead the group. Sammy gives her the name “Queenie,” due to her sense of leadership and attractiveness. The girls go from aisle to aisle, making their presence known.

Sammy learned that quitting his job for three female strangers would not solve all of his problems; in fact, it would only lead him to discover more. He saw that the girls did not think as highly of his action as he did himself, and therefore led him to realize that he will be all alone in the world unless he changed his way of thinking. He was only thinking of “getting” the girls and trying to impress them, and not about doing what was right in the moment.

As the girls prepared to make their purchase, the store manager came suddenly and embarrassed them in front everybody. “Girls, this is not the beach.” (163). While Queenie explained why she was at the store. The manager kept embarrassing them. “We want you decently dressed when you come in here” (164). Sammy was watching silently how the manager talked to girls. Sammy was not happy by the way he talked and treated them. Even Though, it took place over the period of a few minutes, it represented a much larger process of growth. From the time the girls enter the grocery store, to the moment they leave. Sammy was a whole different person. At first, he saw only the physicality of the girls, how they looked and what they were wearing. He observes their actions and how they affected the other customers. However, Sammy noticed that that the girls were more than that. Sammy started to feel bad about the way the girls were being viewed by others. His thought process was maturing and he started to see things as an adult might see them. Hoping the girls will notice his chivalrous gesture, Sammy abruptly quits his job in protest. Realizing that he might later regret his impulsive action, Sammy nevertheless follows through with his decision to quit, and walked off the job. He no longer wanted to be part of something that discourages uniqueness. This Even though Lengel was been friend of

In the story “A&P”, John Updike portrays Sammy as an observant young man lacking excitement in working as a cashier in a small grocery store, the A&P. The mundane, dull community in the A&P that surrounds Sammy challenges him to strive for something different. Sammy wants to experience what lies beyond the A&P. This story showcases a young man blooming into maturity, accepting responsibility and represents the reality of entering adulthood.