A & P Character Analysis Essay

“Do you really think it’s a mind in there… I mean, it was more than pretty.” (Updike, pg. 16) “A & P” is about a teenager, Sammy, who notices a group of girls, one of them being Queenie, as they walk into the store. He gradually adores Queenie more and more as the story progresses and is affected by her beauty and the events that occur. These events and his reaction to them define him as a person. Sammy, the protagonist, would have his personality tested in which he makes an impulsive decision in the heat of the moment that he later regrets. The story begins with three girls entering the store in bikinis. Sammy, an eighteen year old male who worked as a cashier at A & P, watches as they stroll through the store, shopping, and describes them, one in particular that he describes with much greater detail who is given the title of Queenie. The three girls go to Sammy to buy a jar of herring snacks and Lengel, Sammy’s manager, tells the girls that they are not allowed to wear bikinis in the store and that “[he] want[s] [them] decently dressed when [they] come in here.” (Updike, pg. 18) This embarrasses the girls and Sammy quits to stand up for them which has him ending up with no job as a result of his spontaneous reaction. …show more content…
In the beginning, Sammy is describing them, with as much adoration as any teenage male that saw beautiful young women who were strangers. As the story progress though, he begins to notice the small details of Queenie and describes her with much more emphasis and admiration. Sammy begins to feel more attached to Queenie and even feels sorry when “McMahon [was] patting his mouth and looking after them sizing up their joints.” (Updike, pg. 17) Due to his newfound “veneration” for Queenie, he felt obligated to stand up for her when Lengel embarrassed