Essay On A&P

1 Pages 233 Words

In John Updike’s “A&P”, Sammy the main character and narrator creates the emotion and development for the story.


Let’s take a look at what Sammy has helped us to learn about his character. Sammy has told us that he is a nineteen year old from a small town near Boston. He works for the local A&P supermarket. The major interpretation about Sammy is how he sees everyone else.

Everything we interpret comes from the detailed descriptions of Sammy. He tells us what the store is like, how it looks, and what he hears while he is there. Sammy’s descriptions bring a different type of meaning to the saying “Grocery Shopping”. For instance on page 271, he talks about a little song you hear from the cash register. “Hello (bing) there you (gung) happy pee-pul (splat)!” This extensive description brings the store to life. It is almost as if the store where another character.



Some of Sammy’s comments about people also show his character. His descriptions of the people shopping in the store give us ideas about him. “The sheep pushing the carts down the aisle”, “A few house slaves in pin curlers” and “ The fat one with the tan” show us how critical of people Sammy’s character is.

In closing, the way a character is described and how they are related to in the story reveals a lot about the development of the character....