A & P

A detailed Summary of A & P


Do you remember when you realized that the whole world did not eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and jump off the swing into the sandbox? There is a point in every child's life where the spell of youth is broken and the harsh, devil-may-care views of mature existence are revealed. In the short story "A & P" a boy goes through a coming-of-age of sort, and sees society as it exists from an adult viewpoint.

Sammy works in a grocery store: The A & P. A grocery store is an establishment of explicit order and organization, a bustling center where everything, even herring snacks, has its own section or aisle. The only chaos that inhabits a grocery store is that one unruly wheel on your shopping cart. As each shopper walks under that electric eye in the door, the chilling produce air and elevator music consumes them and immediately they kick into grocery mode. After gr


The young girls are in swimsuits. Sammy and his fellow checkout clerk, not to mention McMahon the meat guy, all appreciate the girls' attire. Lengel is displeased and takes authority over the situation; he is the high and mighty manager after all. Mayhem ensues, and Sammy decides that he should quit so the girls will see he is "their unsuspected hero." (Updike, 29) Lengel states that Sammy will "feel this for the rest of (his) life," which is true: everyone remembers their loss of innocence.

He describes this next episode as "the sad part of the story, at least my family says it's sad but I don't think it's sad myself." (Updike, 29) He takes up for what he thinks about the situation but still states his family's opinion as the truth. So even after the fact his sense of self is not fully maturated.

abbing a cart, they join the herd of sheep already shopping in

Some common words found in the essay are:
, Lengel Sammy, grocery store, updike 29, produce air elevator, air elevator music, air elevator, produce air, poor kids, store unruly, it's sad, elevator music,

Approximate Word count = 591
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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