The short story “A & P by John Updike took place in 1961 in a grocery store in New England. The location and situation in the story is very commonplace as it’s a simple grocery store, with a naïve grocery cashier called Sammy, who gets attracted towards beautiful girls who walk inside the store to buy something. Ironically, the romantic desire and sexual attraction of the protagonist in the story brings his downfall as he impulsively resigns from his job, but feels triumphant too at the same time for standing up in favor of the girls against the store manager.
The way the story starts with a detailed description of the physical appearance and beauty of the three girls, it seems as if the narrator is justifying himself for quitting the job, in order to favor and support the girls. But the fact is that he was already frustrated with his job and wanted to quit. From the moment the girls enter the store Sammy’s eyes are fixed on them and all he does is ogle at them. Well, his frustration with the job is one thing, but it’s important to note how careless and disinterested he is in the job. This job means a lot to Sammy’s parents and is significant for him to run his home, but no matter how much the manager in the end tries to encourage him not to leave the job, yet he feels “that once you begin a gesture, its fatal not to go through with it” (196). He loses his job and doesn’t even get the attention of the girls for whom he quite his job, but he knows well “that the world will be hard to me, hereafter” (196) and moves towards an indefinite future.
According to Saldivar, the author Updike has created a character (Sammy), who achieves the awareness and knowledge of a modern artist. He explains and talks about the beauty and features of the girls’ beauty in great length and much detail, which helps the readers understand. The visual imagery used by the author is amazing and Sammy idealizes the beauty of the girl called ‘Queen’. Even the people and customers he describes in the store, is remarkable. Updike has gone deep in the story to describe his characters, which helps the readers get a fair picture and understanding of them. However, at some point in the story when Sammy goes into the details of the girls’ bodies, he sounds very lustful and desirous of the women. He feels fortunate to have Queenie come to his counter to make the payment and from this point, the story took a turn for which even the narrator was not prepared. Even Blodgett explains in his paper that there is a dominant strain of imagery making up the Sammy’s interpretations in the story. Infact he views the girls as alluring Sammy to lead him astray, which actually happens in the end when he quits his job. In this regard Sammy cannot be considered a hero since he acted impulsively and gave up his job without thinking of his old parents. His act of quitting the job later looks foolish and immature and according to Blodgett’s explanation, Sammy is made fun of. His gesture of leaving his job was not required at all and he should have instead thought of his own family, but at that point it was difficult for him not to take the hasty decision. Therefore, his act cannot be seen as driven by any selfish motive, but pure morality and sympathy. His feelings were genuine and true to the core, but sadly unrecognized by the world.
The social status that Sammy has imagined for Queenie to belong to is higher and better than his. Compared to her Sammy is poor and not privileged. But Sammy has a strong desire to be a part of her social status and even quits the job to show the girls how much he cared for them. Unfrtunately, the girls disappeared at the parking lot leaving Sammy lost and jobless. It is rightly said by Pater, for Sammy, “the power to be deeply moved by the presence of beautiful objects.” (Pater xxi). Sammy refuses his official expectations, argues with his manager and in the end is left alone without the ones for whom he made the sacrifice of his job. He has no idea of what his future will be like, what he will do and there’s every reason to be anxious.
The story however shows how Sammy has matured enough to stand up against conventional morality. It’s a realistic story that can happen in real life.
Reference
Blodgett, Harriet. "Updike's A&P." The Explicator 61.4 (2003): 236 . Academic OneFile. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.Saldivar, Toni. "The Art of John Updike's 'A & P'." Studies in Short Fiction 34.2 (1997): 215. Academic OneFile. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.
