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John Updike A & P Analysis Essay

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A&P Analysis This particular story was written by a man named John Updike, in the early 1960s. Updike wrote this story to convey a certain message to the people reading it. That message is that everyone must make their own life choices and decisions at some point, rather than let others make decisions for them. While many people may read the title of this story and believe that the theme revolves around the Anatomy and Physiology of the human body, the actual theme of this story is based on a young boy becoming a man. Throughout the story, the main character who is Sammy, describes to the audience these three girls who have came into the grocery store where he works, and are dressed in bathing suits rather than clothes, which would be frowned upon during this time period. The inferred leader of the group of girls who is Queenie, is the girl that Sammy appears to have his eyes on throughout most of the story. Sammy notices that Queenie is wearing a dirty-pink bathing suit with the straps down to her shoulder, which lets Sammy know that either Queenie is trying to …show more content…
The author uses symbolism to describe to the audience that Sammy imagines that Queenie’s family comes from a high-class family based on the Hearing Snacks that she buys, which was a favored snack among wealthy families during this time period. The author also uses metaphors to help describe the arousal that Sammy feels towards Queenie. One of the most recognized and memorable metaphors that the author uses in this story is locate on the fifth page of the story. The author illustrates that when Queenie was ready to purchase her hearing snacks, she pulled the money out of her pink bikini-top, which according to Sammy, “made the jar feel heavy in my hand.” While many people would have found this action to be disgusting, Sammy thought that this was

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