A & P by John Updike | Characters, Themes, Summary, Analysis

A&P is a tragicomic short story written by John Updike that was first published in The New Yorker on July 22, 1961. The story was later republished in the short story collection titled Pigeon Feathers in the same year that was published by Alfred A. Knopf Inc. In 1966, a short film was made on the short story that starred Sean Hayes and Amy Smart in lead roles.

A&P stands for The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company. It was an American chain of grocery stores that operated from 1859 to 2015. From 1915 through 1975, A&P was the largest grocery retailer in the United States.
Sammy is the narrator of the story. He is a nineteen years old boy working in the checkout line of an A&P store in a small New England town. He is an overconfident youth who believes that he can judge people based on how they dress and act and on what they buy. Queenie is a teenage girl who enters the A&P in her bathing suit. She is very attractive and though nobody knows her name, Sammy nicknames her as Queenie. Lengel is the strict by-the-books manager of A&P and he is a Sunday School teacher. He confronts the Queenie and other girls about their skimpy attire and embarrasses them. Stokesie is another checkout clerk at A&P. He is just a few years older than Sammy but he is already married and has two children. The girl in the Plaid Bikini is the second of the three girls who enter A&P in a bathing suit. She is beautiful but Sammy feels that her attractiveness is overshadowed by Queenie. The Big Tall Goony Goony is the third girl in a bathing suit who enters the A&P store. She is very tall and fat and appears to contrast with the beautiful demeanor of Queenie. McMohan is another guy working at the store.
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