"A & P"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how the short story "A & P", by John Updike, first published in 1962, focuses on a moral/social dilemma suddenly, unexpectedly experienced one summer afternoon by a teenage boy, Sammy, who works as a check-out clerk at the neighborhood grocery store, the A & P. In particular, the paper looks at how "A & P" focuses on the tension Sammy feels between allegiance to A & P; his boss, and by association, his parents, and the rights of three teenage girls to dress as they please inside the store.

From the Paper:

" Sammy's tone as narrator is intended by the author to sound (and it does) more rebellious; irreverent and sarcastic than Sammy himself actually is, deep down. True, he is just a teen, and is probably just starting to even think for himself; in giving him voice, John Updike therefore, obviously and effectively, employs teenage idioms and cadences of the time. Still, though he does not speak like one, Sammy is a person of reflectivity and conscience, e.g., he recognizes to himself his real concern, at story's-end, about how the decision he has made will impact his family in this small, obviously judgmental community, and only after that about how it may impact himself now and later. "

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"

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