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A & P By John Updike Summary

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A & P By John Updike Summary
In John Updike’s “A&P” the narrator is a 19-year-old grocery store employee named Sammy. Sammy worked at a A&P on the north side of Boston. As three girls in bathing suits walk in, Sammy couldn’t help but to notice them. Causing Sammy to accidently re-ring a customer’s item. As he was trying to satisfy the customer for his mistake he realized he lost sight of the girls and continued to try to spot them.
Sammy appeared to be the type of person that likes to examine a person by their emotions and gestures. All though Sammy did not know the middle-aged lady whom he accidently made upset, Sammy described her as a witch. And the 3 girls naming the leader of the group “Queenie” because of the way she walked and held her head up high.
Although Sammy explains in exact detail how these girls hold them self he couldn’t help but to focus more on Queenie. He imagines her not only as a girl but a queen. As he goes more in depth of her appearance than the others he realizes that not only was he noticing them but a co- worker named Stokesie was also. Stokesie unlike Sammy is a married man and is devoted to expanding more into the company. Sammy knows he does not want to dedicate his rest of the life working at a super market.
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With them jus walking in looking forward and not looking back at anyone in their way it makes them fell not only above everyone else but empowered. Not only did they get attention from the opposite sex but also from other customers shopping. As queenie and the girls did what they had to do at the store, they did not care who was staring. They were there to get what they needed and go. Sammy found it odd that they were in bathing suits because the beach was 5 miles away and even then, people would always dress up after they had left the

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