54 pages • 1 hour read
John UpdikeA&P
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1961A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Symbols & Motifs
Voyeurism
“A&P” is set into motion by Sammy’s incessant voyeurism of Queenie and her friends. As he watches them make their way through the store, he intricately, colorfully describes everything from their bathing suits to their hands. By watching them so intently, Sammy imagines that he knows them intimately. He therefore unabashedly evaluates various intimate parts of their bodies.
As a motif, voyeurism supports the themes of attraction and class. The more Sammy watches Queenie, the more his attraction grows, but so does his belief in their class difference. Part of the ending’s empty feeling comes from how Sammy knows nothing real about her, as his observations were purely superficial. When Sammy is outside of the store, gazing at Lengel through the window, voyeurism presents a painfully clear image: Lengel, bent over and rigid with the weight of society.
Brand Names
The narration occasionally spells out brand names of items in the store. This is meant to give readers some sense of familiarity and situate them more firmly in postwar American consumerism and prosperity. Everything in the store is perfectly placed and ready for consumption, emphasized when Sammy names the “the cat-and-dog-food-breakfast-cereal-macaroni-rice-raisins-seasonings-spreads-spaghetti-soft drinks-crackers-and-cookies aisle” (Paragraph 5). As a motif, the brand names further emphasize the mechanical aura of the store, as though everything has a name and a proper place, including the people. This supports the themes of conformity and class, as it represents the clear-cut quality of class standing and of consumerism. The most significant brand name, “Kingfish Fancy Herring Snacks in Pure Sour Cream,” suggests to Sammy that Queenie is of the upper class. The brand name is intentionally obtrusive, textually; this reflects its significance to Sammy, to whom it suggests Queenie and her friends stand out for more than just their bathing suits.
Sheep (and Other Animals)
Sammy never names the customers (except for Queenie and her friends) but often refers to them as “sheep.” This invective symbolizes the unthinking conformity of which Sammy believes them guilty. He believes they question nothing and certainly do not rebel against the status quo, not because they are satisfied but because they are complacent. Toward the end of the story, Sammy refers to another group of customers as “scared pigs in a chute” (Paragraph 30). The customers never gain the same narrative interiority that Queenie and her friends do, mostly because Sammy doesn’t care to imbue them with such fantasy. He disdains most customers and disparages a few in general terms, like the woman whom he calls a “cash-register-watcher, a witch about fifty” (Paragraph 1). In another instance, Sammy refers to the customers at Stokesie’s slot, who are purchasing four giant cans of pineapple juice, as “bums” (Paragraph 12).
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By John Updike
