"A & P" is the short story of how Sammy, the protagonist, grows up and separates himself from the sheep like people of society and becomes a non conformist. This story has become very popular among young people and is standard reading for many high school and college students. Updike got the inspiration for "A & P" while driving past a local A & P market in Massachusetts. He asked himself why no one had wri

A & P has a lot of symbolism. The majority of symbolism is what McFarland calls "brand name symbolism", which is more then simply an appropriate projection of the setting (18). In the Beginning of the story, Sammy associates himself with HiHo crackers; "they are a fitting symbol for him- an ordinary, middle class (not Ritz crackers) snack item" (18). According To McFarland, this represents lightheartedness and high spirits (18). On the contrary, "Queenie" is compared to "Kingfish Fancy Herring Snacks in Pure Sour Cream". When Sammy compares her to such a fancy snack item, he "suggests the social class, the upper crust, to which she belongs" (18). The snack items are used to show how different Sammy and Queenie are in their social standing. A & P is symbolic in itself, because it's a place where many different people can come together and be relatively equal. McFarland describes it as a "melting pot...a typically American institution where, just as the Atlantic and Pacific come together, so do crackers and herring snacks, and so do the proletarian (the bum in his baggy shorts who buys pineapple juice), the bourgeois, and the patrician [the girls]" (18). Ironically as easily as these people come together inside the A & P, they just as easily separate the moment they walk out the door. After Sammy has quit his job, he goes after the girls hoping to receive some sort of reciprocal gratuity in return for standing up for them. Sadly by the time he comes outside the girls have mysteriously disappeared. All that Sammy is left with in the end is the sight of a "powder-blue Falcon station wagon," that is associated with "some young married screaming with her children". The station wagon "relates to the sheeplike customers, the women with varicose veins and six children and the fifty year old cash register watchers" (18). Updike uses brand names in the story to give the reader a feel for the different kinds of people that come to shop at the A & P market.

The story climaxes when Sammy decides to protest Lengel's actions. Although it is evident that the girls didn't really need Sammy's help as they assert that they are "decent" and walk out of the store. Sammy is outraged that Lengel has made the girls flustered and embarrassed, and he wants to do something about it. He decides to make a bold statement and quit his job. This action is "an affirmation of the girls' decency and a rejection of the A & P and the misplaced values for with it stands" (Porter 321). Although, Sammy knows the stores policy but he doesn't think every one should follow it indisputably. In the end, the girls never notice what Sammy has done for them, but by quitting "he has alienated himself from the town by presuming to judge its standards." (Uphaus 127) He knows that things are going to be more difficult for him from now on, but what he has done was worth it because at least he is no lon

Some common words found in the essay are:
Establishment Porter, Witches Eastwick, Atlantic Pacific, John Updike, Sammy Queenie, Cream Sammy, Sammy Lengel, According McFarland, Pulitzer Prizes, bathing suits, Harvard Lampoon, wearing bathing suits, wearing bathing, middle class, asserts individuality, quit job, girls wearing bathing, girls wearing, women varicose veins, station wagon, lengel doing, rules conduct, themes choices consequences, snack item,
Approximate Word count = 1952
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)