Running head: A & P INTERPRETATION QUESTIONS 1

A & P Interpretation Questions

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation
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A & P Interpretation and Analysis Questions

Question 1

Sammy is an opinionated, disengaged, sarcastic, intelligent, and romantic 19-year-old

teenager. While I like him, some of his characters may be wanting. One can argue that the

narrator is intelligent because notices everything around him and additionally takes in the little

details that may seem useless. He is also intelligent because he refuses to be sheep-like, like other

town members (Updike et al., 1996). He notices the number of freeloaders working in the sewer

and also describes the details and patterns on the girls’ bodysuits. However, as he takes in his

environment, he forms his opinion on the people’s actions and chooses whom to treat best. For

example, he disregards the other customers and describes them as sheeplike. He sarcastically

describes the town’s people and even calls his co-worker a drone. His healthy opposite-sex

interest is backed up with the narrator’s description of Queenie’s appearance. As he looks at her,

he notices a dangling bra strap and describes it sensually.

Question 2

Through the use of the author’s first-person narrator, I was able to connect with the

narrator and imagine myself in his position. I began asking myself questions that boosted my

logical thinking and landed me on the narrators’ reasons for behaving in the way that he did. I

think that the author was trying to let his readers relate to the narrator’s experiences directly from

his perspectives.

Question 3

John Updike’s uses an existing store in the setting of his story. Through the setting, the

story reveals the narrator’s characters like him being cynical. He views the store workers as

followers and does not believe that they can become independent thinkers. Through the setting
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and the single-day events of the store, Sammy’s rebellious characteristics surface when the

swim-suit clad girls walk into the store. He sides with the girls whose action of wearing

swimsuits is viewed as rebellious. The setting brings us in on an attention-seeking boy. The

narrator is tired of doing the same thing at his job without being noticed. Hence, when he comes

across the chance to show off, he quits his job in a bid to be viewed as a hero.
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References

Updike, J. H., Murray, D. M., Schwartz, B. R., Hayes, S. P., Sheridan, L., Guillory, J., Oglesby,

R., ... Rhode Island Institute of Design. (1996). A&P: John Updike. Princeton, N.J: Films

for the Humanities & Sciences