A & P Updike, John (Hoyer) | Suzanne Henning Uphaus (essay date 1980)
Suzanne Henning Uphaus (essay date 1980)
SOURCE: "Some Short Stories," in John Updike, Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1980, pp. 121-30.
[In the following excerpt, Uphaus provides a brief overview of plot and major themes in "A & P, " emphasizing the story's ironic tone.]
Updike's story "A & P" is perhaps his most popular; it has been anthologized in many college texts. "A & P" derives its impact from the narrative voice, comic contrast, and the ironic distance between the intentions of the protagonist and what he actually accomplishes.
Sammy, the narrator, is a nineteen-year-old checkout clerk at an A & P market in a New England town that is close to a wealthy beach colony. The narrative voice is established immediately as familiar and colloquial, using the present tense for dramatic impact; it is as if the young narrator is recounting the incident to a friend. "In walks these three girls in nothing but bathing suits,"...
[The entire page is 1041 words long]
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