Figurative Language In A & P By John Updike

3 The story of “A&P” by John Updike adopts the uses of figurative language to embellish the critical moments of transitions of people’s lives, particularly in the life of Sammy. Updike utilizes crafts of plot, character, setting, point of view, theme, and symbol to constitute the story, and to project the idea of "life passages." Also, Sammy undergoes a series of events that enables him to transition as a person in his life.
3 The main components of the story start with three girls dressed in bathing suits, one of which is a two-piece outfit walking into the A&P store. Queenie, who one of them is name, is the ringleader of her group. As the girls walk into the store and wander around, the conflict comes up when Sammy who works at A&P, notices

Updike exerts and manipulates the plot, character, setting, the point of view, and symbolism. These crafts incorporate with one another in the story to highlight what the character is experiencing. For example, in the story, "his face was dark gray and his back stiff, as if he'd just had an injection of iron”… (144-145) This quote refers to Sammy looking back through the store at Lengal after he just quit his job. Through the window, Sammy depicts Lengel as cold and hard as metal. as Sammy connects the “hardness” of Lengel’s appearance with the hardness that awaits him in his future dealings with the world. Updike infuses his style of imagery and hyperbole to highlight the character Lengal and Sammy. Updike's craft enables us to see more visually on what Sammy is thinking of

The setting takes place in a suburban neighborhood like an area in the United States around the 1950's to 1960's. The mentalities of the people in the citizens reflect conformist tendencies of the community because they are negatively judgmental when they notice the girls in the story. The A&P store and customers of the story shape the time and setting to establish what is taking the place of the setting during that time. The A&P supermarket was arguably American's premier grocery store during the 1960s. Therefore, setting the scene of the A&P supermarket highlights the era of the 1960s. During that time, the Cold War and a revolution in social norms took place at that time. These events might be considered to be a precursor to the counterculture, which can infer what the mentalities of the common people, such as the customers in the grocery