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Poetry Of Sammy In John Updike's A & P

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Poetry of Sammy in Jo “A & P” I’m writing about a short story that took place in 1961, in North of Boston, Massachusetts.The author of the book is “John Updike” who writes about a young protagonist that works in a supermarket call “A&P” as a cashier. In the story I learned about different character’s in the story such as: Stokesis who was married with kids, old McMahon the meat butcher, and Queenie and her sheep whom she led. The protagonist who try standing up for others later at the end of the story makes a foolish decision. Because of my thoughts, I thought by him standing up for the girls was a strong thing to do, but at the end of the story he had second thoughts about the girls and his job not realizing he was about to make a immense decision. …show more content…

He is a young man about nineteen years old very unsatisfied with employment of working as a cashier. He had been working for” A & P” for a long period of time to know that he’s was not satisfy, but as he’s continue to work with his back facing the opposite way from the door and later then realize the three girls in the store down the aisle. He is stunning by the way the girls were dress. As he rang up the old lady crackers trying to remember if he rang it up once or twice calling the lady “a cash-register-watchers,” (Updike 17). As he look up at the girls who were wearing nothing but just their bathing suits. At that moment, he was living in a reverie world just imagining in his mind how sexy they are dress in their bathing suits and go in to describing what they look like. He gave names to them one by one starting with the one that caught his eyes: “the one in the plaid green two piece” (Updike 17) and he called her a “chunky

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In “A&P”, John Updike wrote a short story about a male clerk at A&P grocery, named Sammy, who worked at a hot summer day shift when three young women in his age entered the store only in swimsuits to purchase some snacks. Even though shirts and shoes are required, Sammy did not report on the girls to the manager, but instead he allowed them to continue shopping as he looked and imagined the girls based on their appearance. As Sammy watched, Lengel, the store manager, felt that the three girls did not had shirts and shoes on, reprimanded them the rules, which the manager thought Sammy reported on them. Sammy did sign out after the girls left, which he not just realized the three girls’ affection, also was disappointed on this

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Societal changes and cultural differences affect our daily lives both consciously and unconsciously regardless of the cohort. A&P, composed by John Updike, tells of a 19-year-old store clerk, Sammy, who watched three girls create a stir between customers and co-workers after walking through the aisles in their bathing suits; as a result, they were insulted by the manager, Lengel, in front of everyone in the store. Sammy was mesmerized by the one he referred to as, “Queenie” (Updike) as she gracefully and confidently defended her and her friend’s honor after Lengel scolded them for their attire. Consequently, Queenie’s actions inspired Sammy to be their “unsuspected hero” (Updike) and quit his job in hopes of them noticing his heroic act but

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A&P” is a short story that is written by John Updike. It is a story that develops in setting of a grocery store (Updike, n. p). On a broader sense, the setting is a beach town, and the story majorly focusses on how ladies dress. A lot of the characters find the dressing intimidating and one goes even further to warn them about it. It is the view of this paper that the setting of the story forms the cornerstone of its development.

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The Narrator in the story A&P by John Updike tells an experience where he chose to make a decision that would change his life and take him to new places. This decision was one that was derived from the need for freedom and change. Usually a decision like this takes a realization that growing up and taking a new path is necessary. In this story, this realization began from the narrator seeing how his manager treated the girls in the store with such hostility because they were just wearing bathing suits. The boy, watching this, realized he wanted to live like the girls had been living.

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In John Updike’s short story “A&P,” Sammy is the narrator and cashier at the grocery story A&P. The author uses dynamic characters with immensely different personalities to portray conformity and rebellion in our society. Through out the story Sammy challenges conformity and social norms at his work place for personal reasons. Sammy is very bitter character and taken as a realist which fuels the story. Queenie, a rebel against conformity, sparks Sammy’s emotions after the way she is treated by his boss Langel when she walks into the grocery store with nothing but a bikini covering her skin.

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A&P: The Perspective of Sammy “A&P” by John Updike tells the story of Sammy, a teenage boy working at a grocery store, when he sees three girls dressed in swimsuits enter. Quickly, Sammy becomes infatuated with the leading girl whom he dubs “Queenie”. Eventually, the girls are accosted by the manager for dressing inappropriately and Sammy quits in both an act of rebellion and wanting the appreciation of the girls. All throughout the story Sammy’s sarcastic and inquisitive nature comes out leading to a distinct voice and thought process the reader follows giving the reader a very opinionated view of all the characters and action in the story.

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The story takes place on a hot, summer day at a grocery store called the “A&P”. The protagonist is a nineteen year old male cashier by the name of Sammy. The central conflict occurs when Sammy watches three girls in bathing suits enter into the store to buy some herring snacks. Sammy gleefully watches them and gets attracted to the middle girl, “Queenie”, eventually being infatuated for her.

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John Updike's short story "A&P" is about a 19-year-old boy “Sammy” who is going through changes in his life, and has to make crucial decisions that are going to affect his job and his future in the long run. The story is set in an A&P grocery store, in a town north of Boston, and begins with Sammy’s description of the three girls that enter the store. Sammy decides to quit his job in order to impress the girl “Queenie.” Unfortunately, his gentlemanly act goes unnoticed by Queenie and her friends, and he has no choice but to face the consequences of his action. The author of the story clarifies that Sammy’s immaturity comes from his judgmental attitude, sexist beliefs, and disrespectful attitude.

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She had sort of oaky hair that the sun and salt had bleached" he seemed to like her hair as well as her herself. He watched the girls as they walked down the aisles. "I look straight up the aisle to the meat counter, and I watched them all the way" states that he was watching them, kind of like stalking them in a way. People where staring at the girls

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As made apparent by Sammy’s first thought outside, “I look around for my girls, but they’re gone of course” (pg. #7), Sammy initially quit his job in the moment to gain praise from the girls and hopefully to have them swooning over him, but all along he knew the chances of gaining praise from them was slim. Although Sammy was hoping the girls would be waiting for him after he quit his job to stand up for them, he wasn’t really surprised by their absence; He expected it. As Sammy stated “I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter,” (pg.#7) without a job and without any form of reward for his somewhat heroic act, Sammy finally realized the challenges women in society face. Overall, A&P by John Updike is a short story raising awareness for women’s rights as well as proving that you shouldn’t judge someone based on their appearances.

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Discuss one of the following regarding John Updike's "A&P": Characterization, Setting, Theme. Sammy is the narrator of this story. He is an opinionated teenager who describes people shopping at the store as “sheep”. He believes everyone acts the same.

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This helps the reader visualize a sarcastic and frustrated cashier ringing up an impatient customer. Sammy refers to the customers as “sheep” in paragraph five because of their conformity and slow mosey throughout the store also making the three girls stick out more. In paragraph 2, Sammy refers to one of the girls as a “queen” using a direct metaphor as if she truly was a Queen. This reinforces Sammy’s observant mind and way he breaks down each girl. Whether his opinion was positive or negative, deducing women by their looks and staring at their chests, “this clean bare plane of the top of her chest down from the shoulder bones like a dented sheet of metal tilted in the light,”(3), does nothing but further supplement the idea that these three girls are being watched just because of their choice in attire.

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