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.
Background
Socio-Historical Context
Updike wrote “A&P” in America during the early 1960s, a time rife with tension on the social, political, economic, and cultural levels. In this postwar period, the country enthusiastically hoped to innovate toward prosperity. These advancements included new luxury housing developments (think of the Point in “A&P”) and were growing alongside several social justice initiatives. As national wealth increased, middle-class Americans began to feel the strain that came with walking a fine line between poverty and comfortability. Sammy’s town is similarly suspended; it borders a well-off resort town while being five miles from the beach. The entrance of Queenie and her friends into the A&P is destabilizing for Sammy, for whom it makes the class divide extremely apparent.
As a member of the middle class, Sammy houses ideals that seem more aligned with the upper class. This is why he is particularly thrown off balance and yet enchanted by Queenie. In her, he sees the possibility of individualism—the ability to walk into a store dressed however you want and suffer no real consequences. The 1960s inspired much youthful rebellion, most famously against conformity, authority, the Vietnam War, and racism. There was a push toward personal freedom at the expense of tradition. Sammy represents these rebellions; his setting is quintessentially traditional, and he wants to rise above it.
Philosophical Context
“A&P” tackles the philosophical question of the individual versus society, as well as choice. In the face of a consumer-conditioned society, Sammy chooses to live authentically and to go against the established grain. He identifies with Queenie and her friends because they represent, to him, unapologetic personhood as opposed to the “sheep” in the A&P. In philosophy, individualism is a moral stance that emphasizes intrinsic individual worth. This outlook applies to a person’s political stance, ideologies, and social life. The 17th-century philosopher Thomas Hobbes is a leading figure in individualism. He believes people should rely upon themselves in order to be free in all of their affairs, and to never be at the mercy of overarching systems. On every level—financially, personally, and socially—individualism affirms greater personal and creative agency
Sammy’s arc in “A&P” represents the possibility for the individual to crumple under the weight of society. While listening to Lengel reprimand Queenie and her friends, Sammy muses, “That’s policy for you. Policy is what the kingpins want. What the others want is juvenile delinquency” (Paragraph 19). Critical and dismissive of so-called policy, Sammy advocates for its reverse: complete delinquency. For Sammy, engaging in what others would deem criminal is better than submitting to the heavy hand of authority. Ultimately, Sammy exercises his freedom to choose.
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