In the short story “A&P;” author John Updike describes in detail what a boy’s infatuation can lead him to do. Updike also does what every short story author tries to do, he In the short story “A&P;” author John Updike describe the setting and customers with great detail, while giving the characters names that subtlety describe their personalities and lets the reader make assumptions on Sammy’s motivations for his quitting.
In “A&P;” Updike describes the store akin to a 1950’s “Leave it to Beaver” kind of setting. This is a setting in which everything seems ordinary and seems gray. The atmosphere is probably not upbeat and the three girls Sammy sees seems like the most entertainment he’s ever had in the store. For example Sammy describes the florescent lights, the stacked packages and the checkerboard green-and-cream rubber-tile floor. The grocery store is the perfect kind of setting for this story. This setting allows the girls to stand out even more than they would otherwise. Even though they are in bathing suits, its almost like the notion of public nakedness in a commercial setting is what made the girls seem shocking.
Updike’s way of describing the A&P; store also reflects the personality of the town and the “sheep” like behavior Sammy talks about in the story. Sammy equates the customers with sheep which means that they stay together and do everything together. Where one sheep goes, the other sheep follow it and they all look the same. Sammy describes these people how they react when they see Queenie. He says, “You could see them, when Queenie’s white shoulders dawned on them, kind of jerk, or hop, or hiccup, but their eyes snapped back to their own baskets and on they pushed. I bet you could set off dynamite in an A & P and the people would by and large keep reaching and checking oatmeal off their lists and muttering “Let me see, there was a third thing, began with A, asparagus, no, ah, yes, applesauce!” or whatever it is they do mutter. But there was no doubt, this jiggled them. A few house-slaves in pin curlers even looked around after pushing their carts past to make sure what they had seen was correct.” This describes their sheep like behavior very well.
In addition to carefully describing the setting, Updike describes the characters very well. He gives all the major characters names that sort of fit their personality and the way Sammy describes them. For example, the name Sammy is a light hearted friendly boyish name. The name of Sammy’s co-worker which is Stokesie sounds like his last name that has become his first name. This may indicate a man older than Sammy with responsibilities. Sammy describes Stokesie as “married, with two babies chalked up on his fuselage already, but as far as I can tell that’s the only difference. He’s twenty-two, and I was nineteen this April.” The names Updike uses may also describe a characters authoritative and sharp presence.
For example, Queenie is a name that perfectly describes the girl that Sammy is infatuated with. She is a woman importance, power, and attractions. He described her walking in the store throughout the story. He says “She came down a little hard on her heels, as if she didn’t walk in her bare feet that much, putting down her heels and then letting the weight move along to her toes as if she was testing the floor with every step, putting a little deliberate extra action into it. You never know for sure how girls’ minds work (do you really think it’s a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glassjar?) but you got the idea she had talked the other two into coming in here with her, and now she was showing them how to do it, walk slow and hold yourself straight.” Lengel describes an ominous authoritative figure that make rules and laws that Sammy does not like.
Besides describing the characters, assumptions can be made why Sammy would quit. One reason and probably the main reason he quit was try to impress the girls. He wanted them to notice what he did and afterwards take notice in him. For example, Queenie represents something to Sammy. She represents something bigger and better for him. The way he talks about the townspeople in the town and the way he talks about her seem to indicate Sammy is a blue collar boy maybe longing for a white collar girl. He says “I say, we’re right in the middle of town, and if you stand at our front doors you can see two banks and the Congregational church and the newspaper store and three real-estate offices and about twenty-seven old free-loaders tearing up Central Street because the sewer broke again. It’s not as if we’re on the Cape; we’re north of Boston and there’s people in this town haven’t seen the ocean for twenty years.”
The Kingfish Fancy Herring Snacks in Pure Sour Cream jar she buys may be a clue. So maybe there is an there is a element of social inequality in the story. Also Sammy may have quit in a sort of protest. It may be in a kind of feminine protest or maybe its his way of saying that he doesn’t want to be one of the sheep of the town. For example, when he quits he thinks he’s doing the right thing because he thinks a wrong was done. So instead of staying he just took the consequences. Sammy is a typical well intentioned American male trying to find his way. However the end of the story says the world will be harder on him because in a small town everyone will know he quit. He will be known as a quitter. His parents will be disappointed. So he basically had quit his job and given up his good name for girls who just vanished on him.
