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John Updike's A & P

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John Updike is a well-known writer that has had a successful career in America. Updike's "A&P," short story illustrates how different characters react to a group of girls wearing swim suits in a store. As soon as these three girls go in the store to buy a snack they grab the attention of the few people in the store. The manager confronts the girls for their improper dressing. Queenie tells the manager they just went inside to buy a snack and the manager response that there shouldn’t be an excuse for them to walk in with improper clothing. Sammy is the narrator that finds Queenie the most attractive one from the group after a small incident with the manager and the girls he quits his job. Sammy was trying to impress Queenie, but she was already gone when he got to the parking lot. The three elements that are merely important …show more content…

The reader can visualize Sammy's imputes of what he thinks and what he describes. Sammy describes the three girls and he names them as what he sees, "There was this chunky one,... and a tall one,...and then the third one, that wasn't quite so tall. She was the queen" (John Updike pg. 438). Even though Queenie was the most attractive one from the girls, that might not be the case for the other guys in the store. Since this story is told by Sammy's point of view the reader must picture the girls in the way he portrays them. He also uses I, "I look around for my girls, but they're gone, of course" (John Updike pg.443). This quote has "I" and "my" in it so the reader understands that the story is being told in first person.

Sammy is a flat character because even though he needs the job he quits to impress Queenie," 'Sammy, you don't want to do this to your Mom and Dad,' he tells me. It's true, I don't" (John Updike pg.442). Sammy regrets quitting his job, but he feels obligated to go through what he already said. He wouldn't have quit if the small incident would have never

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