Essay about A&P Analysis

Submitted By jmkohlbrand
Words: 591
Pages: 3

I was introduced to a few characters in “A&P.” Even though as a reader I was viewing the story from Sammy’s, the young male cashier at the grocery store, point of view. The three girls are an exclusive, important part of the story. The introduction as a description about them being only clothed in bathing suits made me conclude that walking into a store in just that was not a normal thing and that maybe this story could be reflecting changes in society during this time period. At first I thought that the story would be about how Sammy is attracted to these girls, but the author, John Updike, goes more in depth about how the girls carry themselves with confidence and pride; something uncommon in the “A&P.” So uncommon that Sammy studies their every move and by the end, in my opinion, is inspired. “She held her head so high her neck, coming up out of those white shoulders...” is Sammy’s descriptive thought of “queenie” the leader of the three girls. John Updike makes it prominent that the girls are different from the ordinary people that shop in the store. Sammy says “I bet you could set off dynamite in the A&P and the people would by and large keep reaching and checking oatmeal off their lists...” By saying that, it was made clear that the regular people who come to the store were more conservative, and traditional in society. Sammy until his encounter with the girls, was apart of that traditional society in the store. As I said before, Sammy was inspired. These girls gave him indirect motivation to have the initiative to confront the manager of the store. When the manager of the store was rude to the girls about how they were only clothed in bathing suits, Sammy stood up for the girls and quit his job on the spot. Some people may say that Sammy used the girls as a reason to quit, but I’d disagree. Other people may try and say that Sammy tried to romance the girls by quitting on the spot, but i’d also disagree with that. I believe, like I said before that Sammy was inspired. These three confident girls gave Sammy a glimpse of something else, something outside of the traditional A&P society. In my opinion, Sammy felt dependent working at