Summary Of A & P By John Updike

The story “A & P” by John Updike recounts the events leading up to narrator Sammy quitting his job at the supermarket where he is a clerk. The events that catalyze his resignation is the appearance of three scantily clad women in bathing suits in the store succeeded by Sammy’s manager reprimanding the girls for their attire. Sammy, wanting to retaliate against his boss for the female harassment, unties his apron and announces his departure. Throughout the story the apron is Sammy’s sign of importance within the store. Not only does the position swell his ego but it also leads to his negative perspective of all the customers in the store. The story makes a point that a class system is created in a customer service business that is separate from

This can be a result of his everyday exposure to the patrons of the store, but if they knew how Sammy thought of them, they would insist on shopping elsewhere. Sammy makes derogatory labels about the customers which include words like “bums,” “houseslaves,” and most commonly “sheep.” He even compares an irritated customer to a witch saying they “would have burned her over in Salem.” Critic Corey Evan Thompson notes that Sammy “solely views the three girls as sex objects” and his “main interest lies in their bodies and not in their right to wear bathing suits.” These scattered observations and judgments Sam has of the customers highlight how he places them at the bottom of the hierarchy of the supermarket. His metaphor for them as sheep is precisely how he views them, with their supposed single-mindedness and group

This could have been the result of the girls arriving and giving Sammy delusions of grandeur when he envisions himself enjoying the herrings surrounded by a circle of wealthy figures. The daydream of luxury may have given Sammy the wisdom to see that the real world class system is more important than the faux-authority he has at the store. When Sammy realizes the insignificance of working at the store, his act of courage could have been his attempt at transcending his status in life to reach the girls’ level. With his last bit of hope Sammy turns around outside the store expecting all the gears of the machine to lock up without him. The realization hits him that his place at the store was not as significant as he once thought, and even worse he learns that his newfound unemployment brings down his status in the real