“Appropriate Placement” The setting of the short story “A&P” by John Updike provided major contributions to the meaning of the work. The time period and location that the story took place in was arguably the main contributor to the reactions in the story and how the story itself plays out. If set in a more modern time period, or even set at a different location than a grocery store, the outcome of the story may have ended up very different than in its original setting. Without the setting, the meaning and outcome of the story would not have been what it was. The setting is what made the story. The setting of John Updike’s short story “A&P” is a major factor in how the story carries out, the eventual outcome, and the overall meaning. The setting takes place during the 1950s.
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The story is narrated by a young guy named Sammy who works at an A&P grocery store. When the three young girls walk into the grocery store dressed in only bathing suits it catches Sammy’s attention and remains the focus of the story from that point to the end. Out of the three girls the one who catches Sammy’s eye the most is the one he dubs “Queenie”. During this time period, the 1950-60s, seeing women walk around in only two piece bathing suits was not something that was seen very often especially in a public place such as a grocery store. It was absurd for such a thing to occur. It was even noted that some of the other customers appeared uncomfortable, Sammy referred to them as “sheep” and stated “The sheep pushing their carts down the aisle...were pretty hilarious...their eyes snapped back to their own baskets and they pushed on.”, when they saw the three girls approaching them wearing only bathing suits. Even though Sammy himself doesn’t seem to draw much attention to the fact that it was unheard of for the time due to his distraction; his boss thought otherwise. Sammy was lucky enough to score the girls in his check out lane only to
The story is narrated by a young guy named Sammy who works at an A&P grocery store. When the three young girls walk into the grocery store dressed in only bathing suits it catches Sammy’s attention and remains the focus of the story from that point to the end. Out of the three girls the one who catches Sammy’s eye the most is the one he dubs “Queenie”. During this time period, the 1950-60s, seeing women walk around in only two piece bathing suits was not something that was seen very often especially in a public place such as a grocery store. It was absurd for such a thing to occur. It was even noted that some of the other customers appeared uncomfortable, Sammy referred to them as “sheep” and stated “The sheep pushing their carts down the aisle...were pretty hilarious...their eyes snapped back to their own baskets and they pushed on.”, when they saw the three girls approaching them wearing only bathing suits. Even though Sammy himself doesn’t seem to draw much attention to the fact that it was unheard of for the time due to his distraction; his boss thought otherwise. Sammy was lucky enough to score the girls in his check out lane only to