A & P Essay
The Signification of “A & P”
What is “A&P”? One may answer that it is a grocery store. Of course, it is a grocery store but the real question is “what does it mean in the context of the short story entitled A&P?” The most relevant explanation is that it simply represents the entire society in which Sammy, the main character of the story, lives; “A&P” shows him what his place is, which way he should act and who he has to be.
As the story begins, directly at the end of the first paragraph, we can see Sammy’s opinion about the customers of the A&P when he speaks about a woman as “a witch” (Updike 732); he doesn’t really respect the clientele. Further, he makes his opinion clear: for him, the customers are stupid and naïve people as he shows by saying: “The sheep pushing their carts down the aisle […] were pretty hilarious” (Updike 733). In fact, these “sheep” represent the society. Their behaviour demonstrates that, to make the world go round and the society in the right path, everybody has to act the same way, go in the same direction, not ask questions and never change his habits, as the customers are all going in the same direction down the aisles of the A&P. This is the way Sammy is supposed to act when he comes to adulthood; in fact, he should become a sheep.
In every society, there is a certain hierarchy: in A&P’s too. Lengel, the manager of the store, has the role of showing that hierarchy: “Lengel […] teaches Sunday school and the rest, but he doesn’t miss that much” (Updike 734). This man, as we can see by his description, is very powerful inside and outside the A&P; he is at the top of the hierarchy.
He is the important man in this little society; he is the one who checks out if everything is okay and, if there is a disturbance in his peaceful and ordered world, he will take care of it personally. On the other hand, Sammy is a simple employee; his life is linked to his job and his identity is “Sammy, the cashier of the A&P” as is clearly expressed in...
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