A & P by John Updike
"A & P" is a short story by John Updike that explores themes of youthful rebellion, social class, and the complexities of growing up. The narrative centers around Sammy, a young cashier at a supermarket who becomes infatuated with a group of three girls visiting from a beach colony. They stand out in their bathing suits, challenging the conservative atmosphere of the store, and Sammy is particularly drawn to their leader, whom he nicknames "Queenie."
The story takes a pivotal turn when Sammy's manager, Lengel, reprimands the girls for their attire, citing the need for decency. In a moment of impulsive chivalry, Sammy quits his job in protest, hoping to impress the girls. However, his action leads to a confrontation with Lengel, who warns him about the consequences of his decision, highlighting the clash between personal desires and societal expectations. Ultimately, Sammy learns that his noble gesture comes with significant repercussions, marking a crucial moment in his coming-of-age journey. The story captures the bittersweet nature of adolescence and the often harsh realities that accompany the transition into adulthood.
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A & P by John Updike
First published: 1961
Type of plot: Coming of age
Time of work: The 1950's
Locale: A small coastal town near Boston
Principal Characters:
Sammy , a nineteen-year-old checker at the A & PLengel , the middle-aged manager of the supermarketThree girls , unnamed teenagers from the nearby summer beach colony
The Story
"A & P" is a short initiation story in which the young protagonist, in a gesture of empty heroism, quits his job at the supermarket because the manager has embarrassed three girls—and learns just "how hard the world was going to be to him hereafter."
Most of the action in the story takes place in the short time Sammy stands at his cash register on a summer afternoon watching three girls from the nearby beach colony, dressed in "nothing but bathing suits," wander the store in search of a jar of "Fancy Herring Snacks in Pure Sour Cream." By the time the three reach his checkout stand, Sammy is halfway in love with their leader, a girl he nicknames "Queenie," who has "nothing between the top of the suit and the top of her head except just her." Sammy is attracted to the girl not only by her physical beauty but also by her regal bearing and by her clear disdain for small-town mores. Sammy is highly sensitive to the class differences between "the Point," where the three are apparently vacationing ("a place from which the crowd that runs the A & P must look pretty crummy"), and the supermarket where he works (where "houseslaves in pin curlers" push shopping carts up and down the aisles, followed by squalling children).
Sammy's fantasies are rudely interrupted when Lengel, the officious supermarket manager (and Sunday school teacher), notices and reprimands the girls for their dress: "We want you decently dressed when you come in here." Queenie blushes, and Sammy jumps to their defense in the only way he can: "I say 'I quit' to Lengel quick enough for them to hear, hoping they'll stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero." They do not, and Sammy is left to confront Lengel. "You didn't have to embarrass them," he says. Lengel explains, in defense of the town's provincial mores, "It was they who were embarrassing us." Lengel reminds Sammy that his impulsive action will hurt his parents and that he will "feel this" for the rest of his life, but Sammy is trapped by his own chivalric gesture, and by the romantic code of which it is a part and by which he swears: "It seems to me that once you begin a gesture it's fatal not to go through with it." Remembering how Lengel "made that pretty girl blush," Sammy punches "the No Sale tab" on his register and walks out into the hot and empty parking lot.
Bibliography
Bloom, Harold, ed. John Updike: Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House, 1987.
Boswell, Marshall. John Updike's Rabbit Tetralogy: Mastered Irony in Motion. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2000.
Greiner, Donald. John Updike's Novels. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1984.
Luscher, Robert M. John Updike: A Study of the Short Fiction. New York: Twayne, 1993.
Miller, D. Quentin. John Updike and the Cold War: Drawing the Iron Curtain. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2001.
Newman, Judie. John Updike. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1988.
Schiff, James A. John Updike Revisited. New York: Twayne, 1998.
Updike, John. Self-Consciousness: Memoirs. New York: Knopf, 1989.
Uphaus, Suzanne Henning. John Updike. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1980.