John Updike’s “A&P” is written entirely from the perspective of nineteen year old Sammy, a grocery clerk. Updike has created an atmosphere of striking opposites warring with one another throughout the entire story. Sammy is bored and excited at the same time. He has worked in the A&P long enough to have memorized every item that is sold in the aisle directly in front of his cash register as well as what is generally for sale in all the areas of the store. He has worked so long at this store that he even compares food items to the bodies of the young girls in bathing suits.

Sammy didn't notice the three girls until they were near the bread and he begins comparing the thighs of the first girl he saw to crescents of white. The first contrast comes almost immediately as he is brought back to the task at hand which is waiting on a fifty-year-old woman, with whom he is irritated for causing him to stop looking at

Updike goes into great detail to contrast the young girls with the fifty-year-old woman. He describes the older woman as having rouge on her cheekbones and no eyebrows. The young girls are all given nubile qualities, which are described by the character of Sammy using references to food. The first girl to catch his eye is a chunky girl with a sweet can and two crescents of white just underneath it. The second girl is described as having a chubby berry face with her lips all bunched together under her nose. The third girl doesn't get compared to food until she is at the cash register and is obviously the most attractive to Sammy as he describes her as having prima-donna legs.

It wasn't until he had been left behind that he realized he had crossed a line of some kind. He felt his own power to make a stand. He had crossed the line between a young man and a man. He realized too late however, that the rewards were not worth the price he had paid. I am sure he still

Some common words found in the essay are:
John Updike’s, , crossed line, Updike A&P, fifty-year-old woman, lawn chairs, bathing suits, cash register, crescents white, prima-donna legs, quit job,
Approximate Word count = 659
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)