Sexism In John Updike's A & P

813 Words4 Pages
In the early 1960’s, men and women of all ages drifted away from the conformity surrounding the centuries before them, men by growing their hair long and wearing new styles of clothing, and women by largely increasing the amount of skin they bore. John Updike’s short story, “A&P,” recounts the actions and thoughts of Sammy, a nineteen year old cashier at the A&P, who has not yet become accustomed to this change. When three girls walk into A&P, Sammy reveals his sexist, childish nature and urge to be genuine in his acts. Despite the fact that Sammy rarely speaks throughout the story, his sexist thoughts, conveyed through first person narration, speak volumes about his character, or rather, lack thereof. Women shopping at the A&P are not referred to as customers. Instead, they exist as “sheep pushing their carts down the aisle” (737). Though seemingly a flippant remark, his choice, of metaphor implies more. Categorizing the female shoppers as animals degrades them, suggesting they lack human intellect. Lacking the ability to think on their own, the “sheep” flock in one direction, follower bound to mundane, mindless tasks such as “pushing their carts down the aisle” (731). Sammy uses this metaphor to hint that the “sheep” need guidance from a…show more content…
Speaking of his favorite, “queenie,” Sammy notes that her money comes from her chest, or as he refers to it, “the two smoothest scoops of vanilla [he has] ever known” (731). Here, ‘Queenie” is a dessert, something sweet to look at. Thus, Sammy metaphorically dubs her food, something he may devour to suppress his sexual appetite. While he literally checks her out, he “checks her out” in the cliché sense as well. “Queenie,” representing Sammy sexist view of women, is no longer a woman. Rather, she is a commodity, simply one more item stocked on the A&P shelves, perhaps just as cheap as her .49 cent “Fancy Herring Snacks”
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