A & P John Updike

“A&P”, a short story, by John Updike tells of a brief yet problematic encounter in a local supermarket. The protagonist Sammy works as a cashier at the A&P. After the incident when his boss embarrassed a group of young girls in the store, he impulsively decides he wants to quit as an act of heroism for the young embarrassed girls. Because he quit his job, he learned the valuable lesson that one needs to think before they speak or act. While all characters play important roles in “A&P”, each character possesses a distinct perspective inferred by the narrator that sets him or her apart from every other character. The first character, protagonist, and narrator of this story is Sammy. From the story one could assume he makes assumptions about …show more content…
Sammy’s first impression of Queenie describes a beautiful younger girl who does not mind to test the boundaries of acceptable behavior. He also goes on to make the assumption that her family is of high class in the society. This may be why her friends follow her around like royalty as Sammy suggest by giving her the name “Queenie.” It may also be inferred that she is of high class because he describes her in a way that makes it seem as if she walks around and does whatever she wants. As the climax of the story approaches, Lengel is revealed; Sammy briefly explains that Lengel is a rather dreary man. Queenie’s nor Lengel’s personalities are not revealed by the actions they make in the story because the point of view is through Sammy. However, both characters do have a short amount of dialogue during the incident where some information can be learned about their personalities like whenever Queenie admitted, “My mother asked me to pick up a jar of herring snacks” as Lengel was repeatedly hounding the girls for being in his store in bathing suits. This scene reveals that Lengel is a stickler for his set rules and that Queenie isn’t as old as she seems to be to