The three girls entering the store in bathing suits, “walking against the usual traffic” (Updike, pg. 222), coming down the aisle, symbolize Sammy’s individualism. Because of the girls’ different appearance and behavior from the usual shoppers in the A & P, Sammy couldn’t help but stare. This type of dress wa

The song Sammy hears by the register as he rings up a purchase represents his detachment from his job’s dull routine. This suggests that Sammy has worked at the store for a while and finds his job’s daily routine to now be monotonous. Another clue that symbolizes the job’s dullness is the description of the store. Through his description of the A & P, Updike shows the boredom of Sammy’s job, “… the cool of the A & P, under the fluorescent lights, against all those stacked packages…checker-board green-and-cream rubber-tile floor”(Updike, pg. 222). These descriptions of various observations in the A & P clearly show that Through his description

Updike sees the world and its people as a cluster of conformists, afraid of change. Everybody follows the rules; scared to find out what happens when someone steps outside of the boundaries. Unlike sheep, Queenie and the other girls refuse to obey the rules and find comfort in being outsiders. Updike favors this position, which is shown through Sammy’s actions.

Some topics in this essay:
John Updike, , pg 222, updike pg, shoppers sammy, description updike, “a p”, pg 225, job’s dull, today’s society, rules set, quit job,