Analysis Of A & P By John Updike

Nowadays, the lives we live embody countless ethical characteristics that possibly would not have been culturally tolerable fifty years ago. John Updike’s short story, A & P, encounters these topics of cultural ideals through the point of view of a teenager. The teenager, Sammy, devotes countless hours working at the A & P, a local supermarket, spending his time people watching and visualization where his life will take him. Updike embeds symbolism and imagery into this short story; which, eventually evolves Sammy from a spectating, unaware teenager into an adult who must confront his new reality resulting from his decision to quit the A&P.

The plot in each of these short stories focuses on normal American, middle-class life. “A&P” is about a young man that does not want to conform to society and what others want him to do. Sammy deviates from the social norm by quitting his job at the A&P while attempting to defend the girls wearing bathing suits. M. Gilbert Porter wrote an essay in The English Journal called “John Updike’s ‘A&P’: The Establishment and an Emersonian Cashier”. In this essay, he states that “Updike reveals the sensitive character of a nineteen-year-old grocery store clerk named Sammy, who rejects the standards of the A&P and in doing so commits himself to a kind of individual freedom” (Porter 1155). Porter is describing Sammy as a martyr for quitting his job because he believes that the standards of the A&P are unjust. He also states that Sammy

The story "A&P" by John Updike, deals with Sammy facing a test in his young manhood. Dealing with being accepted by society as opposed to making mature decisions in society. Sammy sees three girls walk in the store with bikini's on and his lust takes over, yet one out of the three named Queenie he loves the most. During this era of the story setting women's rights were very strict in regards to sexism, culture, and imprisonment. Updike's writing is very transparent for readers to see behind the veil on what is really going on in society. My sociological critical theory is "A&P" shows innovative ways of Updike exposing sexism, culture, and imprisonment and how it still affects the world today.

In John Updike’s “A&P”, the revolution of the young people of the current age against authority is explored and explained. “A&P” reveals the shift from conservative and deferential to avant-garde and disrespectful. Through the observation of the behavior of the characters in the story, one can receive a clear picture of the evolution of the sexual revolution that has come in this age. Sammy is the first character that is introduced, he is the protagonist and narrator of the story. Stoksie and Lengel are next, Stoksie is a fellow store clerk with Sammy as well as a good friend and Lengel is the manager of the store. Finally, Queenie is introduced. “A&P” begins with Sammy noticing these three girls that come into the store in nothing but

In John Updike’s “A&P,” Sammy is the main character. The entire story happens through his eyes. Similar to all the other men in the store, Sammy is mystified by the three girls who walked into the A & P. The story follows the girls around while they shop and until they leave. It carefully describes what aisles the girls pass through while Sammy is trying to figure out their story. They intrigue him so much that he messes up while ringing up a customer since his mind was consumed by them. The story is all about what the people ponder when they meet the girls. The brief story contains themes such as authority and generational differences. The story brings out an unlikeness to individuals in power. Sammy describes that the rules are made by the people who are in charge in a dictatorial way. Updike wrote, “That's policy for you. The policy is what the kingpins want. What the others want is juvenile delinquency” (4). Sammy feels he has no freedom that the world will be the same cycle every day. Moreover, he judges everyone who abides by the rules as unintelligent as sheep being moved by a shepherd. “The sheep pushing their carts down the aisle” (2) Ordinarily, there is no change from day to day, so that when Sammy observed the three girls wearing bikinis, he thought it was interesting since they were behaving differently. He sees the same people every week about, and he believes to understand what they are contemplating. Sammy thinks he is cramped into a lifestyle that he does

In the short story “A&P,” John Updike emphasises the overall theme of to be an individual is to face social consequences.

The short story “A&P” by John Updike is one of the most captivating short stories full of actions from the first words when the three girls dressed in bathing suits enter the A&P to when they are leaving in a hurry followed by the unexpected quitting of Sammy. It is very hard to predict what happens next and the whole story is filled with suspense right from the beginning to the end when the reader is left wondering what will happen to Sammy. The whole story is told from Sammy’s point of view and it shows the naivety of young people who often do things out of emotions instead of reason. Updike’s choice of characters is very exciting and the roles they are given suit them and bring out the intended meaning. Unlike Sammy

In John Updike’s “A&P” the characterization of Sammy, the main character and narrator a nineteen year old check out boy at the A&P market ,very distinctly alludes to his lust for power and dominance over women. Sammy expresses his dominant nature in the way he describes Queenie, a rather young teenaged girl who, along with her friend, enter the supermarket in which Sammy works, in their bathing suits, and subsequently catches his eye. Sammy not only objectifies this young woman in his thoughts but he also deeply believes that by interfering between the girls and his boss, when they are in the midst of a confrontation regarding how the girls are dressed, is the way in which he will capture her attention and hopefully even his affections. Sammy’s aggression towards the female customer, at the very beginning of this story, exemplifies his feelings of superiority over women in general. It is this very superiority complex and contained aggression towards women that suggests that these tendencies apply to his day to day life including his sexual tendencies.

In “A&P”, John Updike uses compelling diction, language, and description to enhance the perspective of Sammy within the story and his final decision to quit his job. The use of imagery within the supermarket develops the environment Sammy worked in to a greater extent and painted diverse pictures of the customers. The derogatory descriptions of Lengel and some customers was also significant in terms of revealing Sammy’s emotions about his job at A&P. The nature of the situation with the girls and descriptive language of the customers and environment were also significant factors.A spontaneous effort to portray Sammy’s power and independence was a significant aspect Updike made more interesting by implementing dialogue, diction, and theme.

In the story of “A&P,” John Updike tells a story of a teenage boy, Sammy, who works in a grocery store, and lets his youth get the better of him. He becomes distracted by girls that come in the store in bikinis, and ultimately sets the main theme of the story up for the readers. In his story “A&P,” John Updike explores the power of desire and lust. I will use the examples of foreshadowing, symbolism and the narration style of the author to demonstrate these themes.

"A & P" is a story narrated by a nineteen year old grocery worker in New England by the Sammy. He only worked in the summer time which was tourist season as a cashier at A & P grocery. On a hot day of hard work Sammy sees three young ladies only walking in swimsuits and instantly fell in love. The girl begin to shop and are preparing to make their final purchases when the manager suddenly stops and addresses the three young ladies indencent apperence. Sammy all of sudden quits his job hoping that it would get the attention of the young ladies. Even though he knows that he will later regret his decision, Sammy follows through and goes with his first instinct. Hoping to catch the girls and make quick conversation he storms out of his job only to see that the young ladies are already gone. He describes his actions and the beauty of the the woman as very observing and also points that their demeanor are an lifestyle that he has never experienced himself.

On the surface, the hero of John Updike's much-anthologized short story "A&P" does not seem like a hero on the level of an Odysseus or a Hercules. Sammy is a cashier at a local grocery store. However, when three girls wearing bathing suits enter the A&P, Sammy begins to experience a call to action. For the first time in his life, he takes a stand when he feels as if the pretty girls are being treated with a lack of respect. Sammy feels the first stirrings of rebellion within him, as he chafes against the constraints of his life. Campbell divides the three parts of the hero's quest into a circular journey of departure, initiation, and return. Over the course of "A&P" Sammy makes his 'departure' into the world of the hero.

John Updike portrays the power of desire in his 1960s short story “A&P”. Through Sammy, the narrator and main character, Updike reveals how a feeling of desire and a sense of responsibility can motivate someone to change their life. By applying the psychoanalytic literary theory to analyse “A&P” a closer look can be had on the behaviour and motivations of Sammy and what leads him to make a drastic decision to quit his job. Sammy feels a sense of responsibility over the girls that walk into the A&P and this responsibility, of which he knows little of, causes him to imagine what he could have in his life. When Sammy’s manager, Lengel, humiliates the girls it is like an impetus which results in him realising what he wants to be, ending with him

“A&P”, a short story written by John Updike in the late ninety, presents a young generation’s perspective on their conservative community. Sammy, the main character, experiences a change in his life when the three girls in bathing suit enters the grocery store where he works. The appearance of the girls arouses his desire for freedom from his dull and boring life. With the hope to be different from his co-worker and his boss, he takes on dramatic steps to brighten his future. Through only few pages of texts, “A&P” reflects deeply on an idea of a young generation’s desire to rebel against their current position and the unpleasant community they live in.

Would You? Would you stand up for what you believe in, even if it meant you would face punishments? This question was incorporated in the story A & P when three girls walk into a store and after shopping around go to the checkout counter where they get embarrassed. The checkout clerk does not agree with embarrassing them so once they leave, he quits his job because of what he believed. For that reason, the message of this story is to stand up for what you believe in, no matter what the punishments are.