...Sammy, is a 19-year-old working as a cashier at an A&P. The theme becomes very obvious from the very beginning of the story. Sammy thinks that most people that he sees in his store are “sheep” (“A&P – John Updike”). To Sammy, everyone is the same; boring and lacking character, “The sheep pushing their charts down the aisle…” (“A&P – John Updike”). It is apparent that he is anxious to get out of the mold that he has been stuck in, but he doesn’t know how until the opportunity is presented to him. The opportunity finally presents itself when Sammy stops daydreaming and actually breaks free from the conventions of society when he meets Queenie. By quitting his job, Sammy experiences what it means to be free from the social norm (“SparkNotes: A7P:...
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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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...Mallory Russell 06/12/15 Comparison Essay ENG 102 Online “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver versus “A + P” by John Updike In the short stories “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver and “A + P” by John Updike the protagonists experience an epiphany that change their restricted way of thinking. The main character, “Sammy” in John Updike’s, “A + P” is a teenage boy working in the town grocery store. Sammy experiences an epiphany when he decides to quit his job at the grocery store. He quit because he believed that it was wrong of his boss to treat customers poorly due to any pre-conceived notion that was determined by what the customer looks like. Raymond Carver’s main character named “the husband” in his story “Cathedral” experiences an epiphany when he realizes he has wrongly stereotyped, a visiting friend of his wife’s named “Robert” because he blind. The theme of both of the stories, “Cathedral” and “A+P” is that the main characters are influenced and motivated by other individuals within the story to change their close-minded thinking. In “Cathedral” the character Robert, served as the husband’s motivation for change when he comes to stay with the husband and his wife. The three teenage girls in “A + P”, serve as the motivation to change Sammy’s way of thinking when they enter the grocery store dressed risqué to the grocery store’s standards. Raymond Carver portrayed the husband in “Cathedral” as a cynical person from the beginning of the story. The husband’s wife enjoyed sharing...
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...of "A&P," is a cashier in an A&P grocery store in Massachusetts. The author, John Updike characterizes Sammy as an upcoming young adult, who is figuring out his own life style, while being tamed to a cliched society. Sammy is an impulsive teenager who perceives every small detail that revolves around him. Correspondingly, Sammy becomes annoyed from the social-norm at the A&P grocery store. Sammy further accuses everyone as a “Sheep” and a “houseslave” (Updike). Sammy continues to denounce that everyone looks and acts the same. Moreover, Sammy is a prime example of the vast majority of every young adult, who is hungry to breakaway from the banal culture they live in. While in “A&P” Sammy scornfully accuses his co-worker, Stokesie as a wishy washy twenty-two year old with two babies, and married (Updike). In the light of hope, Sammy gawks at a beautiful girl, wearing dirty pink bathing suit with a little nubble bathing suit (Updike), who he carefully sculpts an image of a beautiful girl he calls, Queenie. In essence, Queen evolves into a character who becomes an escape route from the hackneyed universe for Sammy....
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...John Updike’s “A&P” as a provocative tale of social perception In order to understand the two stories on John Updike’s “A&P”, the characters have to hold the weight of being the most important theme in the short story. The first set of characters consists of Sammy, the Girls, and Lengel who all dictate the first short story from Sammy’s point of view. The second of the two tales Updike pens about in this short, is that of where he makes us question what being “decent” by society’s current standards means, by putting an emphasis on perception and almost spoon-feeding us readers to pick up on what he’s trying to imply by using Sammy to illustrate it all. The paper-thin storyline consisting of what Sammy is going through by narrating and the other, which is the main story being Sammy and the girls representing freedom and non-conformity from a neutral point of view versus what Lengel, the shoppers, and the storefront itself represent as being the socially correct status quo and policy we hold as normal living in society. In this story the establishment that is the A&P itself, is portrayed as routine and monotonous as a market in the middle of town can possibly be. Updike made it so on purpose, to give us a neutral setting that synonymous with our reality and what we perceive as normal behavior in society. The A&P is acceptable as a run-of-the-mill chain market, this character represents the status quo of a 1st world society where one is judged instantly for behaving...
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...non-fiction, fiction, and drama are literature works. It describes tradition and cultures beginning centuries ago. “Saving Sourdi” was set in the United States of America. It takes place at the family operated restaurant. Literature affects people personally according to their current area of their life. It all depends on one’s ability to want to learn literature. We will always find a work of literature that shows values, morale, and attitudes of society. “The men had been growing louder, until they were our only customers, and, finally one of them staggered up and put his arm across Sourdi’s shoulders. He called her his “China doll” and his friends hooted at this”. (Chai, 2001, p.81-82) “He was just this funny looking white kid…Chopstick-boy I called him just to be mean”. (Chai, 2001, p.84) The “Birthmark” was told in third person. The wife’s unwanted birthmark on her face caused problems in their marriage. He wanted to remove her birthmark which caused her death. In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” the grandmother hats symbolizes her demise in life. She held onto her hat the whole story even after death. The town of Toomsboro means day of doom due to the fact everybody died. The Misfits car described it was built like a hearse which symbolizes death. “Battle Royal” theme is when blacks were still being mistreated like slaves. The slaves had been freed but were treated badly because of their skin color. He just wanted a normal life so he kissed white folks behind to get...
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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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...An individual’s character can always be tested at any given moment. A prime example would be when a person stands up for what he or she believes in, even if it may hurt him or her in the end. The short story “A&P” by John Updike, shows how a character by the name of Sammy, stands for what he thinks is right. A theme that the reader may take away from this story is that one should always stand up for what is right despite the consequences that may follow. By using the main character of the story, Updike shows how Sammy exemplifies himself through his own actions. In this story, three girls walk into a store wearing only their swimsuits. Sammy’s boss does not like the sight of this and begins calling the girls out. Sammy does not like the way that his boss handles the situation and takes a stand for the girls. By standing up for the girls, Sammy loses his job for doing what was right. Readers can often times relate and feel connected to Sammy. Updike writes this story in first person point-of-view so it looks as if the narrator is Sammy. The reader is then able to see what all is going through Sammy’s mind. Throughout the story, the reader can see what all...
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...A&P Story and Character Analysis “…My stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter” (153). Unfortunately, many people can relate to this feeling after making a mistake or unintelligent decision. “A&P”, a short story, by John Updike tells of a brief yet problematic encounter in a local supermarket. The protagonist Sammy works as a cashier at the local A&P just north of Boston. After the incident when his boss embarrassed a group of young girls in the store, he impulsively decides he wants to quit as an act of heroism for the young embarrassed girls. Because he was distracted, he made an irrational decision that affected him and the people around him negatively. In “A&P”, Updike communicates the theme of thinking...
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...Initiation into adulthood is an event in which every human being participates. The initiation process helps adolescents grow and mature into reasonable adults, and it is the basis of many artists’ paintings, songs, and written stories. A few notable works about the orientation into adulthood are Junot Diaz’s essay called “They Money”, Lynda Barry’s essay “The Sanctuary of School”, and finally John Updike’s story titled “A&P.” All three of these stories provide a glimpse into the path to adulthood. First of all, Diaz’s “The Money” speaks of a teenager who lives in a home where money is scarce. He says “She chipped dollars off from the cash Papi gave her for our daily expenses, forced our already broke family to live even broker” (Diaz 912)....
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...Xavian Arnold Dr. Patterson English 112 28 March 2012 A & P: An Analysis of the Character “Sammy” As people age, maturity and wisdom is gained through every experience. From the time a child turns eighteen and becomes an adult, they are required to deal with the realities of the real world and learn how to handle its responsibilities. In John Updike’s short story “A&P” the protagonist Sammy is a young man in 1961 New England who works in the town’s local grocery store. In a matter of a day, Updike goes from an immature boy with unrealistic ideas and fantasies, to a man who is about to realize how life altering the choices he makes can be. Sammy realizes that life isn’t always fair and that sometimes it involves the consequences that life can deal to anyone who has not had time to test a rash decision. Updike’s story illustrates that a part of growing up is a willingness to accept consequences of one’s choices, and that life's hardest lessons are sometimes learned a little too late. This story represents a coming-of-age for Sammy, as seen through his evaluations of the costumers as the story develops. Though it takes place over the period of a few minutes, it represents a much larger process of Sammy’s growth. From the time the girls enter the grocery store, to the moment they leave, you can see changes in Sammy. At first, he only notices the physical appearance of the girls: how they look and what they are wearing, seem to be his only thoughts. As the story...
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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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...In A and P, the author, John Updike, built the opening scene by having Sammy describe the natural flow of the store. Sammy proved to be a round character through the development of the story because his character evolved through the development of the plot. Sammy’s change to adulthood was seen through his persistent questioning of conformity. In the beginning of the story, Sammy first questioned conformity by using descriptive language to explain to the reader that the people within the store walk aimlessly through the isles like “sheep” (Updike 322). This is further developed through Sammy describing his co-worker, Stokesie. In the story, Sammy described the store under Stokesie’s management, calling it “the Great Alexandrov and Petrooshki Tea Company” (320). Giving the store this name, accentuated the desire...
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...Manouchka St. George Professor Jonas ENG 113 June 4, 2013 Theme: “A & P” “A & P” by John Updike, is a short story presenting the main idea of man’s struggle to conquer individuality within society. Throughout the story, Updike uses symbolism to enhance the theme and focuses on one character, Sammy, a cashier who is enlightened by three girls breaking a store rule. Sammy symbolizes man’s discontent with the norms of society. This is evident in his sharp and critical observations about the people around him. His sarcastic wit also reveals his frustration. Sammy wants more out of life than being a checker of a small town supermarket job. He does not want to become like Lengel, the store manager, who enforces company standards regardless of the situation. 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. Assuming that they are just in from the beach, although there is not one close by, 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, from walking, down the aisles to against the grain by going barefoot and in swim...
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...change In “A&P” by John Updike and “Araby” by James Joyce the protagonists make important life decisions. Both stories are about young men, leading dull lives, who go through a major change, while trying to escape from their lives. In both stories this change takes place while trying to please a female who triggers something inside them, causing them to act. “Araby” is different from “A&P” because it has religious elements as well as a connection through alienation. In “Araby” the narrator is closely following the crush that he has on Mangan’s sister. The narrator makes a kind of gesture to take Mangan’s sister to the bazaar, but she turns it down because of previous plans. Sammy and the narrator are similar in the sense that they both follow their desire for change. ‘Araby’ and ‘A&P’ are stories of unsuccessful attempts to escape from ordinary lives, only in different ways. Both stories end in darkness to prove that alienation can change the way people react to different situations and both show how the characters react towards change. The fate of Sammy from “A&P” surrounds the ideas of self-identity, desire for change and emerging adulthood, whereas “Araby” outlines alienation, desire for change and the dangers of idealization. The reader gets caught by the setting first in both stories. The protagonists describe the neighborhoods and the daily life in the cities that they live in, in detail. Sammy is stuck in the daily routine of the policy of A&P, while the boy...
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