...aspect Updike might represented his personal experience or someone else experience in “A & P,” when Sammy find himself thinking about Queenie’s life style. “All of a sudden I slid right down her voice into her living room. Her father and the other men were standing around in ice cream coats and bow ties and the women were in sandals picking up herring snacks on toothpicks off a big glass plate and they were all holding drinks the color of water with olives and sprigs of mint in them. (193) Sammy in a way envisions her regular life at home in a way I might personally do if I wonder about an individual....
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...John Updike “A & P” We were asked in class to write a short paper after being asked the question, “What is the most intriguing or interesting piece we have read, and why?” My response to this question was John Updike’s “A & P”. “A & P” was not the best or even the most interesting piece that I have read. However, out of all of the stories that I have read for this class, “A & P” left me with the most questions. Some of the questions that I asked myself after reading this story were, “What did Updike want me to get from this story?” The second question I asked myself was, “Was there any symbolism or foreshadowing in the extreme amount of detail that Updike used in this story?” The last question that I wanted to answer was, “Is that it?” Did John Updike really write a story about dress code of a supermarket? Or, did he write this story about the moral dilemma a young clerk faces when he believes his boss was rude to three underdressed girls? John Updike’s “A & P” was first published in 1962. This story took place in a small grocery store. The main character, Sammy, is a young clerk. He is ringing up a lady whom he describes as a “witch”, when three young ladies enter the store wearing nothing but bathing suits. Updike uses great detail in describing the three girls. The first one that he noticed was described as “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…”...
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...“A & P” by John Updike 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...
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...THE BLUE COLLAR BOYS, THE WHITE COLLAR GIRLS Purpose of statement: discuss about society and class in A&P story. Audience: Mrs. Lewis Shelley Thesis: According to Updike’s work, A&P is a short story where society and class in US during 1930s are explicitly implied. T here comes a funny riddle: “What do the poor have but the rich don’t?”. The answer turns out to be a little bit sarcastic: “Nothing”. It’s sarcastic because It shows how different and unequal this world was, is and will be. During 1930s, those differences and inequalities are even more serious. With a good use of his talent, via A&P short story, John Updike brought to us a topic where it is driven by the dynamics of various classes represented by different characters: Sammy, Queenie, Lengel (A&P manager) and people in the store....
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...In order for the younger generation to succeed, must they do as they see others do and resist deviating from the norm? The short story “A&P” by John Updike takes place within a grocery store with plots depicting different themes, such as innocence and irony. The average reader will be stunned by the unusual break in tradition, as well as the ending with a twist. Sammy, the story’s main character and narrator, is represented as one who does not understand his own troubled life. He also despises others, who in so many words live a life of follow the leader. Ultimately, Sammy quits his job in protest of the unfair treatment of three girls, who have presumably violated the store’s dress code policy. It appears that this is an example where society is being too rigid and insensitive to the changing trends that our younger generations are ready to explore. Three young girls wearing bathing suits into a small town grocery store really caused a commotion amongst the store’s...
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...towards another individual. However, sometimes these feelings are misinterpreted or misdirected. In John Updike’s short story “A&P” and James Joyce “Araby”, both authors tell of a tale of teenagers and their struggles with young love. Updike allows reader’s to see through the eyes of a teenager in his story “A&P”. The story begins with Sammy, a young clerk who becomes fascinated with the arrival of three girls in his store. The girl that grabs his attention the most is Queenie, by carefully observing her walk through the aisles and talk to her friends, he goes through a tremendous change in his character. At first, Updike shows us the immature side of Sammy, he quotes “The one that caught my eye first was the one in the plaid green two-piece…where the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the backs of her legs” (pg. 835), this shows the reader that Sammy is immature concentrating on the girls instead of doing his job. However, as we go further into the story, his somewhat obsession for Queenie leads him to question his own life. His feelings become so powerful that he forms his own conclusions about Queenie and her life and wonders if he could be part of that life too. When the girls finally approach the register, they are embarrassed by Lengel. This angers Sammy and causes him to change from an immature teenager to a person who takes a stand for what he believes is wrong. Queenie was the catalyst in Sammy’s journey to maturity. After Sammy quits, he makes his way into the parking...
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...Although I agree with the previous answer that the internal conflict is significant in "A & P," I disagree with the characterization of Updike's portrayal of Sammy. Yes, as the story concludes, Sammy does think about "how hard the world was going to be to [him] hereafter," but is that necessarily a bad thing? While on the one hand, Sammy's decision to quit could be perceived as an impulsive and illogical decision, it could also represent Sammy's break from conformity and a realization that standing up for what one believes and going against societal norms is difficult. Right now he's standing up for girls who come into a grocery store in bathing suits (in 1961 when everyday dress was nowhere near as casual as it is today), and he sees himself as the girls' "unsuspected hero." But this small step could mean that he was always stand up for himself in the future and will no longer see the world as quite so black and white. Much of the beauty in this story lies in the way it beckons us to think about what the future might hold for nineteen-year-old Sammy. Walter Wells, in his critical essay, “John Updike’s ‘A & P’: A Return Visit to Araby" (available on e-notes) calls Sammy's epiphany "ambiguous." Yes, Sammy does look forward to an uncertain future, and Wells also reminds us that Sammy's action was spurred by his libido (would he have been as chilvalrous if one of the girls other than Queenie was being reprimanded?), but it is nonetheless a decision that he thinks about and stands...
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...Coming of Age “A & P” John Updike’s short story, A & P discusses a simple conflict resolved with a quick and definitive action. The story focuses on its main character; Sammy who has an epiphany when he realizes a line has been crossed while working his summer job. Updike’s story teaches us of a young and relatable man who will stand up for what he believes. The story starts of with Sammy describing three young girls that catch his eye as they walk into the store. “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 so I guessed she just got it (the suit)- 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 right, and one of these sunburns right across under the eyes”… “And then the third one, that wasn’t quite so tall. She was the queen. She kind of led them, the other two peeking around and making their shoulders round. She didn’t look around, not this queen” (320). When Sammy is describing these girls, he is really only describing one girl in particular. “She had on a kind of dirty-pink- beige, maybe, I don’t know- bathing suit with a little nubble all over it and, what got me, the straps were down” (321). Sammy sees these young women in such detail. He observes their every move, up until the time of their checkout. It is at this point, that the store manager...
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...they change just to show off, or achieve something? In John Updike’s short story “A&P”, readers see how much the main character, Sammy, changes to impress a girl he’s never even talked to. From when this girl walks into the store where Sammy works, wearing only a bikini with her two friends, Sammy goes from being an average guy, thinking sexist thoughts, and quietly watching them, to being actively involved and being willing to help them. This change in opinion and character leads to Sammy making some questionable decisions. “A&P” starts with three girls walking into the A&P supermarket, where Sammy works, wearing nothing but bikinis while being miles from the beach. As readers watch the story unfold from Sammy’s perspective, Sammy’s character begins to reveal. Sammy thinks the girls are odd for wearing only bikinis, since it isn’t something he sees every day. He watches them and has a few demeaning thoughts about them, based off what they were wearing and the fact they were girls, “You never know for sure how girls’ minds work (do you really think there’s a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar?)” (Sammy.16). As Sammy continues to watch them go through the store looking for what they needed to buy, he...
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...In modern day society, going out of the social norm of acting and dressing like others is a conflict that collides with a person’s individuality to act on what they feel is the right thing to do. In John Updike’s “A&P”, he sheds light on how societal norms are inflexible and how Sammy, the main character, seeks to not conform to what everyone else in his town are doing and finds validation to pursue his individuality through the nonconformity of the three girls who enter the A&P store. However, while Updike write about Sammy’s ordinary life and brings the three girls in the story to represent freedom, they have an affect on Sammy and helps him realize that there is more to his life other than working in A&P everyday. The author advances his...
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...ingrained into the minds of many Americans. People have different opinions on the subject, but in reality, from the first few days that people have been on the earth, they were taught to cover themselves. In John Updike’s short story, “A & P,” three young girls innocently challenge that belief when they...
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...Sammy, a nineteen-year-old teenager employed at A&P grocery store determines his employment based upon irrational judgment. Sammy is considered as a narrow point of view character based upon, the author John Updike’s description. Sammy is surrounded by his own imagination that forces into to criticize others. Stokesie, a fellow co-worker and a few year older than Sammy is clear example of Sammy’s behavior. According to Sammy, Stockesie is “going to be a manager some sunny day, maybe in 1990 when it’s called the Great Alexandrov and Petrooshki Tea Company or something” (Updike 28). In reality, Sammy has no intentions of serving A&P for rest of his life. To Sammy, Stockesie is a married man, with two children but it’s proven to be untrue. Secondly,...
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...Time to grow up In the story A&P a young boy named Sammy is nineteen and going through a questionable time in his life. He has transitioned from being a young adolescent and entering young adulthood. While working his job as a clerk at a local store in walks 3 girls that grab his attention. He’s mature in how he views them. The people in the store including his manager see things differently and Sammy is place with a decision that cause him to rethink life in general and how hard it will be. Updike’s story is a coming of age story where Sammy position in a convenient store and setting creates a conflict between him and his manager Lengel. Sammy shows maturity in describing the way the girls look as they enter the store. All of the girls are wearing bathing suits which for any nineteen old with interest in the opposite sex would look with a lustful eye. However, Sammy notices with a keen eye of detail not ruling out him looking in...
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...A&P is a story written by two time Pulitzer prize award winning author John Updike. He is one of three authors to win the award twice.1 He is a celebrated author, artist, and cartoonist, but he is perhaps most well known for his writing. An extremely prolific writer, his works are recognizable to a large portion of the American population. In fact, a biography by Steven Moyer states that readers “would have entered into the at times sad, at times triumphant thoughts of, say, a certain check-out clerk at the local grocery store; 'A&P' serving as a model of dramatic irony for at least two generations of English literature teachers.”2 A&P , which stands for The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, is a supermarket chain with a long history. In the 1950s, A&P was a prominent food retailer in America, but its popularity had declined by the 1960s; the company had lost its luster, and the public viewed the A&P as a stale, struggling corporation.3 Updike's story is set in a 1961 A&P in Massachusetts just five minutes away from the beach. This short story outlines the maturation of the main character Sammy as he works at his local grocery store. While working on a normal summer day at his cash register, in walk three young girls in their bathing suits and flip flops searching for some herring snacks. While the girls walk around shopping Sammy extrapolates details about them from their appearance. Although he starts the story immaturely agreeing with his cohorts about the audacity...
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...Updike’s short story, “A&P” takes place in a small conservative town. Sammy the protagonist struggles between conforming and rebelling against the conservative society of the 1960s. I argue that the narrator’s point of view, setting, and dialogue relates to Sammy being overwhelmed by internal struggle, power and pain. These rhetorical devices will allow younger audiences to feel Sammy’s struggle. The first person narrator Sammy has an internal struggle between conformity and rebelling against the status quo. The story begins by Sammy stating, "In walks these three girls in nothing but bathing suits. I'm in the third check-out slot, with my back to the door, so I don't see them until they're over by the bread". The first sentence establishes a connection and draws interest to readers. Sammy’s colloquial tone allows younger adults to relate to Sammy and the position he is in. Also his tone allows readers to experience the situation at first- hand. Although the reader’s view of the character is limited through Sammy lens and what he sees as his truth, he shifts back and forth of his limited opinion of people he sees For example, he refers people as sheep’s and followers. The author incorporates the use of animals and clothing as symbols in ways to characterize the town and people throughout the course of the story. Sheep’s are described as close group animals that do the same routines and don’t have a mind of their own. This symbolizes how the people in this town are not risk-takers...
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