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A&P: Lust in the Aisles
"A & P" is a comic short story written by John Updike in 1961 in which the hero and first person narrator takes a stand for what is right and therefore has hope for a better future
6 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1961
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707 people want to read
About the author
John Updike
859books2,348followersJohn Hoyer Updike was an American writer. Updike's most famous work is his Rabbit series (Rabbit, Run; Rabbit Redux; Rabbit Is Rich; Rabbit At Rest; and Rabbit Remembered). Rabbit is Rich and Rabbit at Rest both won Pulitzer Prizes for Updike. Describing his subject as "the American small town, Protestant middle class," Updike is well known for his careful craftsmanship and prolific writing, having published 22 novels and more than a dozen short story collections as well as poetry, literary criticism and children's books. Hundreds of his stories, reviews, and poems have appeared in The New Yorker since the 1950s. His works often explore sex, faith, and death, and their inter-relationships.
He died of lung cancer at age 76.
He died of lung cancer at age 76.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 243 reviews
July 17, 2012
Yeah... Updike. I have never read him before. And, for such a short, short story, I think he shows a lot of himself. Basically, the first thing I wondered when I started reading was, "I wonder if I will find this story misogynist?" and yeah. Well. Yeah. That is basically what the entire story is about.
It is, but in that frustrating way where it's standing up for something too. These girls in bathing suits, they walk into this sleepy grocery store and set the world on end by their very sexuality. Eventually they're mistreated, and our narrator doesn't like it at all. Or is it just that the girls make him feel like showing himself to be a hero, for their benefit? Does he really respect them at all? Those are the type of questions the author has made it our job to answer.
And the dirty thing of it is, it's fantastically written. The descriptions of the girls' bodies make me feel weird as a thinking person and member of society, but as a reader, they're glorious. The setting is on you in an instant, which it needs to be, at this length. It comes out of the gate at a run.
And... you know. It's far from entirely inappropriate. There is certainly a place for a story like this. It captures the lust of a teenage boy for luscious girls in the summertime, which is absolutely something real! So I don't really disparage that. Even the comment about whether girls have a mind or if it's just buzzing bees, sure, call it "character," I guess. Every other woman in the story is a repulsive mother screaming at her children, though. A dichotomy is deliberately set. Is it just for the artifice of the short (short) story? Or are these genuinely the parts of the world the author is longing to portray to us?
It's interesting, and a good read, but I think the ick factor for this one is dragging down my feelings today. Sorry, great modern literature. I will try to make friends with you some other time.
It is, but in that frustrating way where it's standing up for something too. These girls in bathing suits, they walk into this sleepy grocery store and set the world on end by their very sexuality. Eventually they're mistreated, and our narrator doesn't like it at all. Or is it just that the girls make him feel like showing himself to be a hero, for their benefit? Does he really respect them at all? Those are the type of questions the author has made it our job to answer.
And the dirty thing of it is, it's fantastically written. The descriptions of the girls' bodies make me feel weird as a thinking person and member of society, but as a reader, they're glorious. The setting is on you in an instant, which it needs to be, at this length. It comes out of the gate at a run.
And... you know. It's far from entirely inappropriate. There is certainly a place for a story like this. It captures the lust of a teenage boy for luscious girls in the summertime, which is absolutely something real! So I don't really disparage that. Even the comment about whether girls have a mind or if it's just buzzing bees, sure, call it "character," I guess. Every other woman in the story is a repulsive mother screaming at her children, though. A dichotomy is deliberately set. Is it just for the artifice of the short (short) story? Or are these genuinely the parts of the world the author is longing to portray to us?
It's interesting, and a good read, but I think the ick factor for this one is dragging down my feelings today. Sorry, great modern literature. I will try to make friends with you some other time.
April 28, 2024
John Updike takes us on a ride through the A&P aisles with Sammy, a hormonally teenage cashier. It all starts with three babes in bathing suits, waltzing in like a technicolor dream under the fluorescent lights. Now, let me tell you, these weren't your typical beach bunnies. One, with a plaid green two-piece that clung to her like summer heat, had a "sweet broad soft-looking can" that made the rest of the shoppers turn into drooling house-husbands. And from there, the story only gets better.
Who was I? Your humble reader was a man living out his dream in a little beach town in a foreign country. With a stack of old short stories and essays, I was nowhere near this Sammy figure. If anything, I was more like the girls—sunburn and tan lines—except that I was old. But as I read this story, I remembered back to a time when I was young—almost Holden Caulfieldish—thinking that every day like the one in the story would turn into a disaster. I constantly worried about losing my minimum-wage jobs and that my minor rebellions would haunt me for the rest of my life. For all I know, the Sam in this short story became a US Senator, a step down from an A&P clerk to be sure, but still, not too shabby.
When we're young, we want to instill every day with epic importance. We see every regularity in life as a kind of tyranny, an affront to our boundless potential. Every adult over 30 is guilty of cowardly surrender to mediocrity. As a tanning, old-book reading over-40-year-old, I sometimes forget how I must look to the youth of the world: a slightly more tanned version of the stodgy manager in the story. They have their own epic tales spinning in their heads; they see dramatic stories unfolding around them; and they yearn for that one heroic, Pyrrhic act of valor that will set them apart from the cowardly failures called adults they see around them.
If I have one more heroic act in me, it will be to write a short story that rivals Updike's A&P.
Who was I? Your humble reader was a man living out his dream in a little beach town in a foreign country. With a stack of old short stories and essays, I was nowhere near this Sammy figure. If anything, I was more like the girls—sunburn and tan lines—except that I was old. But as I read this story, I remembered back to a time when I was young—almost Holden Caulfieldish—thinking that every day like the one in the story would turn into a disaster. I constantly worried about losing my minimum-wage jobs and that my minor rebellions would haunt me for the rest of my life. For all I know, the Sam in this short story became a US Senator, a step down from an A&P clerk to be sure, but still, not too shabby.
When we're young, we want to instill every day with epic importance. We see every regularity in life as a kind of tyranny, an affront to our boundless potential. Every adult over 30 is guilty of cowardly surrender to mediocrity. As a tanning, old-book reading over-40-year-old, I sometimes forget how I must look to the youth of the world: a slightly more tanned version of the stodgy manager in the story. They have their own epic tales spinning in their heads; they see dramatic stories unfolding around them; and they yearn for that one heroic, Pyrrhic act of valor that will set them apart from the cowardly failures called adults they see around them.
If I have one more heroic act in me, it will be to write a short story that rivals Updike's A&P.
May 22, 2014
The narrator is 19 years old, a cashier at a grocery store. In came three young girls in bathing suits running an errand to buy something, one of them pretty. Minute descriptions of things and people inside the grocery, a show day, one afternoon. Then the grocery owner admonishes the girls to come in decent next time even as he, the young cashier and the other male employee maybe eyeing the girls, especially the pretty one.
The cashier quits his job. I think it was Flannery O'Connor who said that we should just read a story and enjoy it and avoid over-analyzing it. This story is interesting (so I must have enjoyed it) but don't ask me why the narrator quit his job because that would make me analyze and I may not even have the correct answer.
The cashier quits his job. I think it was Flannery O'Connor who said that we should just read a story and enjoy it and avoid over-analyzing it. This story is interesting (so I must have enjoyed it) but don't ask me why the narrator quit his job because that would make me analyze and I may not even have the correct answer.
September 29, 2015
I actually really liked this story. Few parts of the story even made me laugh. I also loved that the story had two sides, and I liked the message the story sent. I'm sure that I would've acted the same if I were in Sammy's shoes.
September 26, 2014
I figured by the end of this story the author was trying to tell us how amazing non conforming is, but using three scantily clad teen girls who we get no character insight from really was the wrong way to go. Even more frustrating was how quitting his job was written as heroic, while in all honestly he would never "stand up" to a woman of a later age; this stems purely from their bodies and his hyper-sexualisation of them. From Sammy's point of view, the trio was used little more than objects to show how freethinking he was becoming, and I left this thinking how little difference there was between them and can of fancy fish on a shelf. +1 star for the use of setting.
December 12, 2019
I remember being indifferent to this story when we read it in school (middle school? high school? one of the two). Sammy definitely falls into the category of naive, entitled boy - he's surprised when the girl he's dubbed Queenie doesn't speak the way he thinks she should, and is then further disappointed when the girls aren't waiting around to shower him with adulation when he quits his job because of an injustice he perceives against them. Good for the girls. This idiot needs to grow up and learn some things.
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April 13, 2022nah bc men scare me
March 10, 2014
Well... maybe I lost some of the meaning this story was supposed to have... or maybe it wasn't supposed to have a meaning... I don't know. But I'm pretty sure I can't seem to come up with something I liked about this short story; it just annoyed me (and believe me I usually don't experience that with literature, whatever the topic). I don't know what Updike's novels are like, and I may never know. It was a big mistake to read this first... well I had no choice, it was an assignment.
January 7, 2023
� review to come �
February 27, 2021
I genuinely can't tell if I'm supposed to side with the hero or if I'm SUPPOSED to think he's a dick, but either way, unlikeable heroes are hard to pull off. I wasn't too impressed with this one. I don't automatically dislike the concept of an unlikeable narrator, but they're just very hard to write without making the reader want to throw their tablet across the room. The misogyny and racism was hard to endure even for six pages.
January 25, 2014
A coming of age story centered on nineteen-year-old Sammy, a cashier at A&P - he witnesses three scantily-clad girls walking around in the store and that changes his life. For the brevity of the story there remains a decent amount to discuss, and even though it did not resound with me on a deeper level, I appreciated Updike's vivid writing style.
July 16, 2014
I had to read this for my Comp 2 class, and I was not impressed. A boy who works at a store lusts over three scantily dressed girls, who happen to come into the store. The story is devoted to describing these girls bodies. Waste of my time.
March 3, 2018
A grocery-store worker lusts after some girls in bikinis, and then he quits his job when his manager asks the girls to put on more clothes. That's the entire plot. Never will I understand why this short story is considered good literature.
October 3, 2019
Maybe I'm just not the intended audience for this, but I didn't get it. Girls in swimsuits come into a grocery store, the cashier thinks they're hot, the manager asks them to cover up, and the cashier quits his job on their behalf with the hopes of impressing them. Bleh.
September 11, 2017
This was easily one of the worst short stories that I have ever read. I despise this story. Calling it a story is an insult to real stories. Uninteresting plot, uninteresting characters, and uninteresting setting make this mess the perfect story to throw in the trash.
Why is this story even titled "A&P"? It has nothing to do with that place, aside from the setting. If the narrator never mentioned that the setting was A&P and instead said that it was some generic supermarket, the story would have been exactly the same. The only reason that I see for titling the story "A&P" is to defame the REAL A&P by associating the stores with uncivilized women in bathing suits.
Why is this story even titled "A&P"? It has nothing to do with that place, aside from the setting. If the narrator never mentioned that the setting was A&P and instead said that it was some generic supermarket, the story would have been exactly the same. The only reason that I see for titling the story "A&P" is to defame the REAL A&P by associating the stores with uncivilized women in bathing suits.
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March 1, 2021I see what he was trying to do but just let the girls buy their herring snacks 🥴🥴
May 20, 2022
you know he gets ZERO bitches
October 29, 2022
Honestly, not sure how someone could enjoy this story if they aren’t a pervert.
August 28, 2024
icky� what in the perverted grossness 😭
March 17, 2023
I really didn't enjoy reading this. I read it for school, and I don't really know why, none of the questions were actually related to the content of the story, just the vocabulary.
My main problem with this short story is that it doesn't have a purpose. I don't like thinking about art as something that needs to be something, but I genuinely did not get a single thing out of reading this (other than learning "can" is slang for someone's butt... I didn't want to know that anyway). The main character doesn't learn anything, or become a better person because of the story. We don't get a deep look at why he thinks about people the way he does.
Spoilers: Content Warning for sex and potential pedophilia:
Let me start off by saying that there is nothing wrong with finding someone attractive sexually. That is not at all what I'm trying to say. Sexual attraction is a thing that most people the narrators age have experienced. That's not a bad thing. The problems I have with this story are the hypocritical way the narrator views other people, the bad writing, and the fact that this story isn't about anything.
- At the beginning, narrator dude says this to the audience, "She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it where the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the backs of her legs."
1. Is this supposed to be sexy? This doesn't read like smut in the slightest. It's clinical and
awkward.
2. How old are these people supposed to be? Is this person an actual child, or are they 19 like the
narrator? Even if this is supposed to be a commentary about the sexualization of kids, what
kind of person who was attracted to a child would call them a "chunky kid"? People like to
think that they are good. When we do something we know is wrong we twist our words to make
ourselves feel better. When I lie to people, I tell myself that it's okay because it's not hurting
anybody, even if that's not true. To brazenly accept that these people are kids would be a very
inhuman thing to do.
This guy then has the gall to say this, "All that was left for us to see was old McMahon patting his mouth and looking after them sizing up their joints. Poor kids, I began to feel sorry for them...". As if that isn't all he's been doing for the last 10 minutes.
The entire story the only thing the narrator does is oggle three people he calls kids, complain about the women who usually wear short skirts being old and ugly, quit his job in an incredibly stupid half-assed attempt to white knight for them, and be angsty when the girls have left and can't reward him for his loserish hypocritical act of defiance. This is not compelling. He doesn't learn anything. This isn't social commentary. It's fluff that no critically minded person would enjoy.
I'm going to eat lunch now.
My main problem with this short story is that it doesn't have a purpose. I don't like thinking about art as something that needs to be something, but I genuinely did not get a single thing out of reading this (other than learning "can" is slang for someone's butt... I didn't want to know that anyway). The main character doesn't learn anything, or become a better person because of the story. We don't get a deep look at why he thinks about people the way he does.
Spoilers: Content Warning for sex and potential pedophilia:
Let me start off by saying that there is nothing wrong with finding someone attractive sexually. That is not at all what I'm trying to say. Sexual attraction is a thing that most people the narrators age have experienced. That's not a bad thing. The problems I have with this story are the hypocritical way the narrator views other people, the bad writing, and the fact that this story isn't about anything.
- At the beginning, narrator dude says this to the audience, "She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it where the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the backs of her legs."
1. Is this supposed to be sexy? This doesn't read like smut in the slightest. It's clinical and
awkward.
2. How old are these people supposed to be? Is this person an actual child, or are they 19 like the
narrator? Even if this is supposed to be a commentary about the sexualization of kids, what
kind of person who was attracted to a child would call them a "chunky kid"? People like to
think that they are good. When we do something we know is wrong we twist our words to make
ourselves feel better. When I lie to people, I tell myself that it's okay because it's not hurting
anybody, even if that's not true. To brazenly accept that these people are kids would be a very
inhuman thing to do.
This guy then has the gall to say this, "All that was left for us to see was old McMahon patting his mouth and looking after them sizing up their joints. Poor kids, I began to feel sorry for them...". As if that isn't all he's been doing for the last 10 minutes.
The entire story the only thing the narrator does is oggle three people he calls kids, complain about the women who usually wear short skirts being old and ugly, quit his job in an incredibly stupid half-assed attempt to white knight for them, and be angsty when the girls have left and can't reward him for his loserish hypocritical act of defiance. This is not compelling. He doesn't learn anything. This isn't social commentary. It's fluff that no critically minded person would enjoy.
I'm going to eat lunch now.
February 4, 2022
Not going to sugarcoat it: this sucks.
February 8, 2025
Quite liked this. My first Updike story!
His style here reminded me of JD Salinger, with the young male voice and rich descriptions of the girls he sees in a store and is immediately attracted to.
The plot is essentially him seeing these girls in the store he works at, he becomes enamoured with them, they then get humiliated by the stores manger for their outfits - sun bathing suits and two piece suits. They stand out like eye sores among the usual drabble of shoppers that Sammy refers to as sheep.
Sammy feels suddenly protective of these girls he’s only just come across. He quits his job in front of them, in the hopes of impressing them (but they don’t notice). Then he ponders that he might regret this decision for the rest of his life, especially knowing that it will disappoint his parents.
I see him quitting as an act of taking control of his life, as much as it is about impressing the girls. He can’t relate to the “sheep� he is surrounded by, and seeing three girls who look nothing like what he is used to: they stand out and represent something from a different world outside his dull middle class existence.
I guess the negative of this story is the lack of plot. I wanted a bit more, it felt like there just wasn’t enough plot for this to be hugely memorable. But the writing was very good, I enjoyed it throughout. Definitely want to check out more from Updike. Especially as Nabokov was a fan of his writing as well.
His style here reminded me of JD Salinger, with the young male voice and rich descriptions of the girls he sees in a store and is immediately attracted to.
The plot is essentially him seeing these girls in the store he works at, he becomes enamoured with them, they then get humiliated by the stores manger for their outfits - sun bathing suits and two piece suits. They stand out like eye sores among the usual drabble of shoppers that Sammy refers to as sheep.
Sammy feels suddenly protective of these girls he’s only just come across. He quits his job in front of them, in the hopes of impressing them (but they don’t notice). Then he ponders that he might regret this decision for the rest of his life, especially knowing that it will disappoint his parents.
I see him quitting as an act of taking control of his life, as much as it is about impressing the girls. He can’t relate to the “sheep� he is surrounded by, and seeing three girls who look nothing like what he is used to: they stand out and represent something from a different world outside his dull middle class existence.
I guess the negative of this story is the lack of plot. I wanted a bit more, it felt like there just wasn’t enough plot for this to be hugely memorable. But the writing was very good, I enjoyed it throughout. Definitely want to check out more from Updike. Especially as Nabokov was a fan of his writing as well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 18, 2023
Read it for school. Didn’t like it but didn’t hate it
March 15, 2025
Une des seules short story que j'ai lu et dont je me suis rappelé avoir lu en cours d'anglais
November 14, 2018
Our narrator (whom we find out is named Sammy), is working the cash register at the local A&P (for those not in the know, A&P was a grocery store based in New York that operated in the United States and Canada from 1859 to 2015), when three girls come into the store. The young ladies make their presence known to our narrator, who describes the girls at length right down to their facial features, physical attributes, and even what they are wearing. Sammy observes them from his perch in the checkout line, parading through the store behind their leader as they look for a very specific food item, oblivious to the rest of the world (or, at least, the world inside A&P). The story is the observation of a nineteen-year-old young man, on the verge of manhood, and his seeming boredom with the routine nature of working and shopping at A&P.
I first read "A&P" in a Literature and writing class my freshman year of college. Since it was set in the 1960s, and this was 2001 (which seems like a whole other time), the idea of what the girls were wearing causing such a scene for the ones who weren't oblivious was actually quite funny. It helped that the story was already funny.
Sammy seems to be a young man not content to be ringing groceries up all day, unlike his co-worker Stokesie, who Sammy describes as believing he will be manager some day. I love the idea that Updike believes that in 1990 (the distant future!), A&P will be called "The Great Alexandrov and Petrooshki Tea Company" (the real name of A&P is The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company"). I didn't notice this in 2001, but this is an obvious nod to the times, since the story is set in the early 1960s, the beginning of the Cold War. Based on his observations alone, it is clear that Sammy is a cynic (possibly a romantic?), and that having this attitiude will benefit him in the future. He won't be content to rest on his laurels, nor is Sammy willing to conform. He sees A&P as conforming to a societal norm. His epiphany at the end is not one to miss.
"A&P" was first published by John Updike in The New Yorker on July 22, 1961, and later included in Updike's collection Pigeon Feathers. The story is as good as I remember it being 17 years ago as a 19-year-old college freshman. I found myself laughing at the descriptions of the girls the same way I did then. It was certainly a different time and place, which makes it even more entertaining to read.
If you need a quick read (honestly, the pdf I read from was six pages) and want a little light-hearted humor, check this one out.
I first read "A&P" in a Literature and writing class my freshman year of college. Since it was set in the 1960s, and this was 2001 (which seems like a whole other time), the idea of what the girls were wearing causing such a scene for the ones who weren't oblivious was actually quite funny. It helped that the story was already funny.
Sammy seems to be a young man not content to be ringing groceries up all day, unlike his co-worker Stokesie, who Sammy describes as believing he will be manager some day. I love the idea that Updike believes that in 1990 (the distant future!), A&P will be called "The Great Alexandrov and Petrooshki Tea Company" (the real name of A&P is The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company"). I didn't notice this in 2001, but this is an obvious nod to the times, since the story is set in the early 1960s, the beginning of the Cold War. Based on his observations alone, it is clear that Sammy is a cynic (possibly a romantic?), and that having this attitiude will benefit him in the future. He won't be content to rest on his laurels, nor is Sammy willing to conform. He sees A&P as conforming to a societal norm. His epiphany at the end is not one to miss.
"A&P" was first published by John Updike in The New Yorker on July 22, 1961, and later included in Updike's collection Pigeon Feathers. The story is as good as I remember it being 17 years ago as a 19-year-old college freshman. I found myself laughing at the descriptions of the girls the same way I did then. It was certainly a different time and place, which makes it even more entertaining to read.
If you need a quick read (honestly, the pdf I read from was six pages) and want a little light-hearted humor, check this one out.
July 24, 2016
At what point does rebellion and resistance become about a society as a whole - about other people, too - instead of it being self-serving? Hypocritical? a band-wagon effect? A childish act against the elders?
This short story illustrates that transitional point - or doesn't, and whether if you think it does or doesn't is the entire point. Those who call Updike sexist for writing this do not get the point of an "unreliable narrator" and seem to be having trouble distinguishing Updike from the main character. So, to emphasize, Sammy does not represent Updike's voice here (not until the very end, anyway). And Sammy is not a reliable narrator. You are not supposed to approve of his point of view. I think it's important to know these points in order to enjoy this work.
This short story illustrates that transitional point - or doesn't, and whether if you think it does or doesn't is the entire point. Those who call Updike sexist for writing this do not get the point of an "unreliable narrator" and seem to be having trouble distinguishing Updike from the main character. So, to emphasize, Sammy does not represent Updike's voice here (not until the very end, anyway). And Sammy is not a reliable narrator. You are not supposed to approve of his point of view. I think it's important to know these points in order to enjoy this work.
May 31, 2016
Gallantry and Chivalry, The Ideals of Youth
I have read A & P several times. John Updike's very short and spirited story set in the early 1960s of a teenage grocery bagger's quixotic gallantry as a knight protecting the honor of a couple of bikini-clad butterflies on a quick run to the A&P grocery market on a summer's afternoon.
While I realize that some consider this story sexist, this does not detract from the revelry it stirs in me of the masculine idealism of my younger self, my teenage infatuation with maidenly beauty and my reverence for the Dulcineas of my youth. I don't believe this makes me sexist, Pancho, yet if such revelry and my lasting faith in chivalry proves that I am romantic and quixotic, I plead, and shall die, guilty.
I have read A & P several times. John Updike's very short and spirited story set in the early 1960s of a teenage grocery bagger's quixotic gallantry as a knight protecting the honor of a couple of bikini-clad butterflies on a quick run to the A&P grocery market on a summer's afternoon.
While I realize that some consider this story sexist, this does not detract from the revelry it stirs in me of the masculine idealism of my younger self, my teenage infatuation with maidenly beauty and my reverence for the Dulcineas of my youth. I don't believe this makes me sexist, Pancho, yet if such revelry and my lasting faith in chivalry proves that I am romantic and quixotic, I plead, and shall die, guilty.
May 16, 2018
Read for Expository Writing
I like Sammy (the narrator), he's kind of funny. A bit dull plot wise, but written engagingly enough that I wasn't too bored.
I like Sammy (the narrator), he's kind of funny. A bit dull plot wise, but written engagingly enough that I wasn't too bored.
October 10, 2022
will never think about vanilla ice cream the same way again
January 11, 2023
It was well written but I couldn't help my insides twist in disgust from the blatant misogyny and it felt quite perverse in some instances. I was honestly distraught starting the story as I assumed it would be dedicated to displaying how women must be shamed for being sexual by existing in their bodies and I was worried that the main character was in fact an older man who would critique the behaviors and outfits of girls for his own lust-filled feelings on looking at their bodies (this was not the case--almost?). No matter how questionable the reason, Sammy standing up for the girls was a far better ending than what I initially expected and yet I am still disappointed.
Overall the story was especially frustrating to me as it was presented with a white knight complex. Every word describing the girls is linked with their sexuality and how they were presented to the narrator. The comparisons between these girls versus the mothers and the description the narrator gives of the differences in their bodies also made me uncomfortable.
Also, I hated the comment the narrator, Sammy, makes wondering if they have thoughts or just bees buzzing in their heads when referencing the girls.
the rest contain spoilers
The young cashier is sardonic about the people in the store, whether they are a worker or a customer, and calls them sheep-- I understand it was a point for him to critique the concepts of being a corporate slave and how many thoughtlessly follow the standard societal rules but he falls into the category (at least at the beginning of the story this is true) and fails to acknowledge this.
A group of girls enter the store in their swimsuits. He becomes infatuated with the girls because he's a horny teen I guess, but also most notably because they are breaking the rules and social norms-- not just by the way they dress but with the actions they take like 'disrupting the flow' of the way to walk through the isles. Unlike the girls, he is merely an observer and critiquer of those around him, he does not break or challenge these rules. More accurately, he partakes in the rules but thinks better of himself than the others that do because he comments mentally upon it.
They break the rules that he holds disdain for which is another aspect he admires, aside from the beauty he spent so long speaking upon, so when he starts to ring them up and the manager comes in and berates them for their inappropriate attire, he quits his job (in front of the girls) claiming it was done because the manager was rude to the girls but really it was to finally be away of the corporate chains he hates and the most obvious explicit reason being to impress and be the girls by being their "savior".
As he heads outside the shop he says smth along the lines of seeing "his girls" which is absurd and obsessive as he doesn't know them and never even spoke to them and he wonders what to do with his life now that he has quit and they didn't bother to wait for him outside.
I am inclined the believe his reasons for quitting were not as noble as he thinks they are, I think it was easier for him to quit as he hated his job and the monotony of it and it was even easier once he thought it was potentially a conversation starter with the girls and that they'd be thankful. I do not. however, know if this was the intention of the author.
This summary excludes a lot of the misogynistic undertones that were mentioned and I focused more on other themes present. It makes sense why the misogynistic undertones were present since it is known it was written in the 60's.
Overall the story was especially frustrating to me as it was presented with a white knight complex. Every word describing the girls is linked with their sexuality and how they were presented to the narrator. The comparisons between these girls versus the mothers and the description the narrator gives of the differences in their bodies also made me uncomfortable.
Also, I hated the comment the narrator, Sammy, makes wondering if they have thoughts or just bees buzzing in their heads when referencing the girls.
the rest contain spoilers
The young cashier is sardonic about the people in the store, whether they are a worker or a customer, and calls them sheep-- I understand it was a point for him to critique the concepts of being a corporate slave and how many thoughtlessly follow the standard societal rules but he falls into the category (at least at the beginning of the story this is true) and fails to acknowledge this.
A group of girls enter the store in their swimsuits. He becomes infatuated with the girls because he's a horny teen I guess, but also most notably because they are breaking the rules and social norms-- not just by the way they dress but with the actions they take like 'disrupting the flow' of the way to walk through the isles. Unlike the girls, he is merely an observer and critiquer of those around him, he does not break or challenge these rules. More accurately, he partakes in the rules but thinks better of himself than the others that do because he comments mentally upon it.
They break the rules that he holds disdain for which is another aspect he admires, aside from the beauty he spent so long speaking upon, so when he starts to ring them up and the manager comes in and berates them for their inappropriate attire, he quits his job (in front of the girls) claiming it was done because the manager was rude to the girls but really it was to finally be away of the corporate chains he hates and the most obvious explicit reason being to impress and be the girls by being their "savior".
As he heads outside the shop he says smth along the lines of seeing "his girls" which is absurd and obsessive as he doesn't know them and never even spoke to them and he wonders what to do with his life now that he has quit and they didn't bother to wait for him outside.
I am inclined the believe his reasons for quitting were not as noble as he thinks they are, I think it was easier for him to quit as he hated his job and the monotony of it and it was even easier once he thought it was potentially a conversation starter with the girls and that they'd be thankful. I do not. however, know if this was the intention of the author.
This summary excludes a lot of the misogynistic undertones that were mentioned and I focused more on other themes present. It makes sense why the misogynistic undertones were present since it is known it was written in the 60's.
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