Abstract
Sammy works at a small town grocery store located near the beach as a cashier. He’s nineteen years old. While he’s at work, three girls walk into the store wearing bathing suits. Sammy as well as others in the store are distracted by the naked flesh. The three girls, headed by Queenie, are well aware of the male gaze. Towards the end of the story, Lengel, the manager of the store, tells Queenie that they are inappropriately dressed. At this instant, Sammy quits his job. He realizes that life is going to hard for him thereafter.
Examine Sammy’s language. Write down several words or passages, the page number and what you have inferred from the words regarding Sammy’s general attitude towards life.
Soft-looking can (440)
There is a clear preoccupation of the carnality of his gaze. As a nineteen year-old, Sammy is at the prime of sexuality. He pays close attention to the details of the three girls who come into the sore. There is a recurring mention of nakedness, body parts, and suggestive sexuality. The three girls are very closely observed by Sammy with recurrent and potent attention to their bodies. Sammy notices the details and curves of the female form that is hidden and visible to the naked eye. Before Sammy quits his job, his mind is almost entirely occupied by the highly suggestive details of the three girls’ bodies.
Phrases such as “sweet broad-looking can,” “crescents of white,” “backs of her legs,” and “belly was still pretty pale” stand out in the very first paragraph of the story. These details that unmistakably highlight the nuances of Sammy’s gaze, characterizes him as a young man at the very prime of his sexuality.
All of the main characters make choices. List each character’s choice and the consequence of his/her choice.
Sammy: Sammy decides to quit his job and the main consequence of that choice is the realization that the world is going to be harsh from there on. Sammy’s choice as well as what he learns through that choice results in the necessary disillusionment that forms the most salient character development of the story: “You didn’t have to embarrass them” (444).
The girls headed by “Queenie: They all decide to walk in to the store poorly clad. It can be inferred from the narrator’s description that Queenie, who is clearly the head of the girls, and had decided to walk into the store n their swim wear. Here are two consequences of this choice. Firstly, the attire results in a heightened male gaze, and secondly, their dignity is compromised when Lengel admonishes them: “Queenie blushes” (444)
Lengel: Lengel decides to address the issue of the indecency of the girls’ attire. This choice has two consequences: Sammy qit his job and on another level, Lengel invites a lot of negative attention from other customers as well as the three girls: “That’s alright,” Lengel said. “But this isn’t the beach” (444).
Negative reviews of A & P center on what some reviewers perceive as Sammy’s misogynist views. Do you this Sammy is offensively sexist? Why or why not? How does his attitude about women affect the outcome of the story?
One could say that Sammy’s sexualized word choice characterizes him as a misogynist. However, there are two primary refutations of this argument. Firstly, Sammy is only nineteen at the prime of his sexuality. And secondly, at the end of the story, he quits his job in an effort to protest Lengel’s words to the girls. This choice negates the claim that Sammy is misogynistic: “I said I quit” (444).
A symbol is something that suggests or stands for an idea, quality, or concept larger than itself. What symbols do you see functioning in A & P? How do they contribute to your understanding of the theme?
Bathing suits: A very important symbol in the story, bathing suits bring out the idea of desire the girls evoke in others. They also propel plot of the story forward. Sammy notices from the very beginning, the intricate details of these bathing suits complete with the body parts they cover, heightens the overall theme of the story, wch centers on desire and the male gaze: “In walks three girls in nothing but bathing suits” (440).
The male gaze: Starting with the narrator, the story is almost entirely an extended male gaze that supports the theme. Updike’s preoccupation with this gaze emphatically highlights what the story is about: desire: “She had sort of okay hair the sun and salt had bleached” (440)
Herring snack: The herring snack stands in contrast to the kind of snack and consequently the social class of the narrator. The male gaze is heightened in terms of desiring of women who are of a higher class: “My mother asked me to pick up a jar of herring snacks” (444).
Why does Sammy quit his job? Do you think he has more than one reason?
On the surface, Sammy quits the job because Lengel’s words embarrassed Queenie: “You didn’t have to embarrass them” (444). This might seem way too idealistic for Sammy, who seems enamored by notions of desire. A closer examination would reveal that Sammy’s decision to quit the job is triggered by a deep desire to impress the girls, especially queenie. After quitting the job, he attempts to glean what the girls’ response is, but they are swift to disappear. Sammy’s gallantry, therefore, only results in the realization that the world is going to be cruel thereafter.
At the end of the story Sammy understands “how hard the world was going to be to [him] hereafter.” Do you agree with this assessment? Why or why not?
On a practical level, Sammy has lost his job and has to find another one, which in itself is a challenge. On a deeper and more ideological level, Sammy has witnessed the unfair distribution of social privilege. The herring snack as well as the general deportment of queenie highlight for Sammy a world far removed from his small-town underclass existence. From here on, Sammy is bound to be disturbed by many unfair social constructions including class, privilege, and wealth.
Updike does a wonderful job with the development of his characters. Even though it’s a short story, Sammy’s character goes through a profound character transformation in the few pages. At the beginning of the story, he’s a simply a young man who, due to his age, is swift to notice the nuances and details of the carnality of the opposite sex. At he end of the story, however, he has learned through his behavior and actions, the unfair distribution of wealth and privilege in his world. The juvenile has learned, therefore, the relentlessness of class structure of his world: “I look around for my girls, but they are gone, of course” (444).
As with any literary character that goes through a profound character transformation, Sammy at the end of the story is not the Sammy the reader meets at the beginning of the story. He has learned much, and in fact, it would be accurate to say, is disillusioned by the unfairness of his world – a world that discriminates on wealth and privilege.
Works Cited
Updike, John. A & P. N.p.: n.p., 1986. Print.
