A&P: Short Story 2
A & P
“A&P” written by John Updike is a short story about a young boy named Sammy. He was 19 years old and he was working at A&P mini market. One day, there were three girls shopping at the store wearing bikinis, and Sammy was surprised yet adore these three girls, until one day he quitted his job because he wanted to be their hero, but unfortunately, the girls didn’t even see him. John Updike was trying to describe Sammy as a typical youth who is trying to get some attention.
At the beginning of the story, Updike didn’t really describe Sammy. Otherwise, he described more of the girls whom Sammy was looking at. But, along his writing, readers could conclude about Sammy’s physical look. Another thing is that Sammy had his job as a cash register in A&P store, and from the way Updike had written, readers could conclude that Sammy doesn’t really like his job. He calls one of his customers a "witch" and says the other customers are "houseslaves" and "sheep." But what makes him more hate his job is the cash-register-watcher: “She gives me a little snort in passing, if she’d been born at the right time they would have burned her over in Salem” (303). This shows how much Sammy hates her. In addition, Sammy is sexist. He gives long, loving descriptions of the girls who cause all the trouble.
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Moreover, Sammy does experience growth through the course of the story. In fact, Updike clearly described it, as when Sammy decided to quit his job: “So I say “I Quit” to Lengel quick enough for them to hear” (308). The reader won’t expect this to be happened, but Sammy made a shocking decision by quitting his job just for the girls he’d just knew. But maybe, the reason was not just because of the girls, but also because he had enough of Lengel, and he felt he had enough for all the things he never wanted to but, but he had to. Yes, Sammy was doing his job because his parents were the friends of the store manager, Lengel: “He’s been a friend of my parents for years”
“A&P” written by John Updike is a short story about a young boy named Sammy. He was 19 years old and he was working at A&P mini market. One day, there were three girls shopping at the store wearing bikinis, and Sammy was surprised yet adore these three girls, until one day he quitted his job because he wanted to be their hero, but unfortunately, the girls didn’t even see him. John Updike was trying to describe Sammy as a typical youth who is trying to get some attention.
At the beginning of the story, Updike didn’t really describe Sammy. Otherwise, he described more of the girls whom Sammy was looking at. But, along his writing, readers could conclude about Sammy’s physical look. Another thing is that Sammy had his job as a cash register in A&P store, and from the way Updike had written, readers could conclude that Sammy doesn’t really like his job. He calls one of his customers a "witch" and says the other customers are "houseslaves" and "sheep." But what makes him more hate his job is the cash-register-watcher: “She gives me a little snort in passing, if she’d been born at the right time they would have burned her over in Salem” (303). This shows how much Sammy hates her. In addition, Sammy is sexist. He gives long, loving descriptions of the girls who cause all the trouble.
1
Moreover, Sammy does experience growth through the course of the story. In fact, Updike clearly described it, as when Sammy decided to quit his job: “So I say “I Quit” to Lengel quick enough for them to hear” (308). The reader won’t expect this to be happened, but Sammy made a shocking decision by quitting his job just for the girls he’d just knew. But maybe, the reason was not just because of the girls, but also because he had enough of Lengel, and he felt he had enough for all the things he never wanted to but, but he had to. Yes, Sammy was doing his job because his parents were the friends of the store manager, Lengel: “He’s been a friend of my parents for years”
Cited: Updike, John. “A&P”. A Pocketful of Prose: Vintage Short Fiction Volume 1. Madden, David. Boston: Thomson Higher Education, 2006. 4