John updike's a & p

A detailed Summary of John updike's a & p


Throughout his story, "A & P" John Updike did an excellent job at narrating an event through the eyes of a young grocer. Sammy, a youthful cashier, works at the local A & P Grocery Store in midtown. The town is an average, structured community with little surprises "...standing at the door you can see two banks and the Congregational church and the newspaper store and three real-estate offices...." . There are many reasons why Sammy may have quit, however I believe that the two most important aspects were his average life, and his bold attitude.

With such a structured town, Sammy is used to dealing with the typical customer "...women generally put on a shirt or shorts...and anyway these are usually women with six children and


He wanted to stand up for the girls. Without hesitation he announced, "I quit." However he wanted the girls to see his courageous act "...hoping they'll stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero." It's possible he quit out of respect for his three unlikely customers. Putting his own future aside, he stood up for the girl's rights.

Another reason for Sammy's early retirement could have been his bold attitude. With an extremely sarcastic point of view, Sammy called the customers "sheep" and commented on the girl's flaws (body shape). When he heard his boss disrespect the trio, he wanted to voice his opinion again. Sammy hated to see the girls embarrassed "remembering how he made that pretty girl blush makes me so scrunchy inside."

After read

Some common words found in the essay are:
Grocery Store, John Updike, Updike's Throughout, sammy quit, read story, bold attitude, sammy seen,

Approximate Word count = 510
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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