"A&P"

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews the short story, "A&P," written by John Updike, with a focus on the setting of the story. The paper contends that the notion of a story's setting involves more than simply the tale's geographic location in an immediate sense. It also includes the short story's atmosphere and the relationship of the characters to a larger sense of place, time, and even weather and clothes.

From the Paper:

"Setting thus takes into consideration the different characters' emotional relationships with the place's setting, and how the characters feel about the place where they are located. For instance, Sammy, Updike's nineteen-year-old cashier and main protagonist feels much less positively about the store where he works, as opposed to, for instance the "cash-register watchers" who may regard catching poor cashiers like Sammy in an error as the highlight of their week. Rather than a dreary place, to such exuberant housewives, the A&P might seem like a paradise of sales and opportunities to show their shopping prowess rather than a place where one labors for little thanks on a nice summer day. (Updike, p.204) If the story were narrated from the perspective of one of these rouged harridans, it would be a very different tale indeed, especially after Queenie and her crew passes through the store's doors."

More papers on "A&P":

• Analytical Essay # 125348 : "A&P" and "Shiloh"
• Comparison Essay # 64503 : "A&P" and "Araby"
• Book Review # 146579 : "Reactions to Updike's Short Story - A&P"
• Analytical Essay # 1684 : "James Joyce's "Araby" and John Updike's "A&P"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: