Hello and welcome to the Discourse. A&P is a tragicomic short story written by John Updike that was first published in The New Yorker on July 22, 1961. The story was later republished in the short story collection titled Pigeon Feathers in the same year that was published by Alfred A. Knopf Inc. In 1966, a short film was made on the short story that starred Sean Hayes and Amy Smart in lead roles.
The Title: A&P stands for The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company. It was an American chain of grocery stores that operated from 1859 to 2015. From 1915 through 1975, A&P was the largest grocery retailer in the United States.
Characters of A&P: Sammy is the narrator of the story. He is a nineteen years old boy working in the checkout line of an A&P store in a small New England town. He is an overconfident youth who believes that he can judge people based on how they dress and act and on what they buy. Queenie is a teenage girl who enters the A&P in her bathing suit. She is very attractive and though nobody knows her name, Sammy nicknames her as Queenie. Lengel is the strict by-the-books manager of A&P and he is a Sunday School teacher. He confronts the Queenie and other girls about their skimpy attire and embarrasses them. Stokesie is another checkout clerk at A&P. He is just a few years older than Sammy but he is already married and has two children. The girl in the Plaid Bikini is the second of the three girls who enter A&P in a bathing suit. She is beautiful but Sammy feels that her attractiveness is overshadowed by Queenie. The Big Tall Goony Goony is the third girl in a bathing suit who enters the A&P store. She is very tall and fat and appears to contrast with the beautiful demeanor of Queenie. McMohan is another guy working at the store.
Summary of A&P:
The story begins as the narrator is working in the checkout line of the local A&P store in a town in New England. He is Sammy, a 19-year-old boy. He is attending to a 50 years old woman while ringing the groceries for payment. He describes the woman as “a witch about fifty with rouge on her cheekbones and no eyebrows." It appears he is not very enthusiastic about his job and is getting bored. Suddenly, three young teenage girls in bathing suits enter the A&P store and Sammy gets distracted by their sight. First, he notices a ‘chunky’ girl who is wearing a green plaid Bikini. Sammy continues paying attention to her and analyzes her tan. As he is distracted, he accidentally rings up a pack of crackers twice. The aged woman notices his mistake and complains about it. Sammy pays attention to the groceries of the woman and once she leaves the A&P store, he concentrates on the three girls again.
He sees that the three girls are walking down an aisle. He observes that the bikini suit of the ‘chunky’ girl is new. Sammy doesn’t find her strikingly attractive. Then he observes the other girl who is tall and fat. He instantly dislikes her and nicknames her as the big tall goony goony. Finally, he notices the leader of these girls who is a self-possessed girl of medium height. Sammy notices a strange leading quality in her as she walks like a queen. Sammy nicknames her Queenie. Queenie walks deliberately and confidently looks straight forward while the other two girls follow her quietly. Sammy wonders why these girls entered A&P in their bathing suits.
Sammy notices that just like him, Stokesie is also admiring the girls and he too has eyes on Queenie. Sammy feels that Queenie already knows that he and Stokesie are ogling at her but she completely ignores them. Stokesie is another clerk at A&P. He is hardworking and responsible and he aspires to be the manager of A&P in the future. He is just a couple of ars elder than Sammy but he is already married and has two kids.
The three girls discuss something and the big tall goony goony girl picks up a pack of cookies. Sammy then pays attention to the other customers at A&P who are startled by these girls in ‘indecent clothes’ but soon turn their heads to their own carts. Sammy feels that soon someone will complain about these girls in indecent dresses as he sees some women glancing back at the three girls disapprovingly. Girls in bikinis can be a common sight on the beach but seeing them at A&P is disturbing to them. Sammy describes these women as "house slaves in pin-curlers."
Sammy informs that the town is situated very near a beach. Often women visiting the beach would come to A&P but they usually put on their shirts and shorts before entering the store. Furthermore, most of those women are old with several kids and hence, they create no scene at the store. However, these girls are unique. They are teenagers and they are flaunting their youth and attractiveness in their bathing suits.
The three girls go to the meat counter and ask for something. McMohan was managing the meat counter. He points the girls in a direction and as they move in that direction, he starts ogling them in a lewd manner. Sammy feels bad for the girls. As Sammy is working at the checking line, he expects to see the girls again. The three girls appear and they have to choose between Sammy’s or Stokesie’s register. However, an old man reaches Stokesie’s checking line first and Queenie decides to hand over her purchase to Sammy. Sammy notes that she bought a jar of fancy Herring snacks. Sammy tells her that the cost is 49 cents. Queenie pulls out a folded dollar bill from the cleavage in her top and Sammy feels elated by taking it in his hands.
At the same time, Lengel, the store manager enters the store. He is a strict manager who works by the book of rules. He is also a Sunday school teacher and prioritizes discipline over frivolousness. He observes that the girls in their indecent dresses are making a scene. He comes near and reprimands them. He humiliates them and says that “This isn’t the beach.” All the girls are ashamed and silent. Queenie tries to reason out and blushingly says that her mother told her to buy Herring snacks. Sammy gets startled by her voice. He starts thinking about her family and social class and thinks that she must belong to the rich high class and that her parents must have planned a fancy party where they would offer cocktails and herring snacks.
Lengel ignores Queenie’s excuse and continues to embarrass her. He repeats that ‘this is not the beach’ and they must dress decently before entering a public place like his store. Sammy finds it funny and he smiles at Lengel. Lengel doesn’t like Sammy smiling but ignores him and continues to shout at the girls. He sternly says that the next time they should be decently dressed before entering the store. Queenie strikes back and says that they are decent girls. Lengel says that he doesn’t want to argue but if they have to come into the store again, they must have their shoulders properly covered as it is the store’s policy. He then asks Sammy if he has already ringed the purchase of the girls to which Sammy answers that he hasn’t yet. He then rings the box of herring snacks and the girls rush out of the store after picking it up.
As the girls are going out, Sammy declares that he is quitting the job in a voice strong enough to make the girls listen to him. The girls ignore him and continue out of the store. Sammy then confronts Lengel and says that he didn’t have to embarrass the girls the way he did. Lengel says that the girls were embarrassing the store and were making other customers feel uncomfortable to which Sammy responds in a senseless manner saying "Fiddle-de-do." He then removes his store uniform and throws the bowtie and apron on the counter. Lengel tries to stop Sammy and says that he should rethink as he doesn’t want to do this to his poor parents and his rash decision will continue to harm him in the longer run. Sammy doesn’t listen and goes out of the store with his white shirt on. As he reaches out, he looks for the three girls but they have already vanished and he doesn’t know which way they go. Sammy looks back at the store and sees that Lengel himself is attending the checking line where he was working just a few minutes before. Sammy realizes that he has taken a hard decision and wonders how hard his future would be.
Themes of A&P: The story's major theme is the importance of appearance, and servitude to conformity. The girls appear strange and bizarre in store and Ligel reprimands them for not conforming to the social definition of decency. However, the girls prefer individual liberty and claim that despite their clothes, they are decent. Sammy appears to favor the concept of individual liberty and doesn’t like servitude to conformity. Ligel is absolutely right in objecting to their dresses as girls in bathing suits in a grocery store may offend other customers but he didn’t have any right to embarrass them. Another theme is the nature of power. Being the manager, he executes his power by reprimanding them and then warning Sammy of the consequences if he quits the job. He thinks that he has the power to humiliate people for wearing clothes that he thinks are indecent. However, the real power is executed by Sammy who decides to revolt against too much conformity that is marring his community. He stands for individual liberty, though he will have to face consequences.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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