A&P

4 Pages 1045 Words

Analyses of “A&P”
John Updike is the author of a short story entitled “A&P”. The main character of this story is a young teenaged boy named Sammy who is the protagonist as well as the dynamic character. He is a cashier at the local A&P grocery store in a old fashion community. Sammy’s co-worker Stokesie is a cashier at the register next to him, he is one of the static characters that never really changes or evolves. Another, character of his kind who does not affect the plot in any way is McMahon the butcher. Sammy’s boss on the other hand is the antagonist of the story as well as the character that helps the climax develop. Updike’s story is a bit sexist also, he does not name any of the women characters. Instead, he substitutes their real names for other names such as Queenie, Sheep and Houseslaves. Queenie is the ringleader of her group of friends, and also what one would label a flat character. Updike never reveals to the reader the personalities of Queenie’s friends. Instead, he describes them as sheep that trace every step of their friend Queenie. Updike’s other static characters are the houseslaves, which are really the local house wives that make there daily trip into the local A&P. John Updike’s story “A&P” mirrors each stage of Gustav Freytag’s pyramid with some stages overlapping the other. Freytag’s Pyramid is a diagram that labels each sequence of a plot starting with the introduction or exposition.
Updike’s exposition establishes the setting, Sammy’s character traits is by far the most developed stage in his story it introduces the setting, main characters. Sammy is the cashier that is telling this story from his point of view. The opening sentence reads “In walk the three girls in nothing but bathing suits” (Updike 125). These words jump out at the reader immediately catching ones attention. Updike focuses on building Sammy’s character traits rather than establishing the settin...