A & P

I really liked John Updike's style of writing in his short story "A & P". It was entertaining, and I could relate to some things that the characters said and their tones. Also, at the beginning of the story, I definitely thought that Sammy would be more interested in the girl that he was describing with the bright green swimsuit that was a "chunky kid, with a good tan". The names that Sammy (the narrator) used to reference the three girls were Queenie, Plaid, and Big Tall Goony-Goony, which seemed to fit them well.  

My favorite passage from this piece is the following:

'"That's all right," Lengel said. "But this isn't the beach." His repeating this stuck me as funny, as if it had just occurred to him, and he had been thinking all these years the A & P was a great big sand dune and he was the head lifeguard. He didn't like my smiling- as I say he doesn't miss much- but he concentrates on giving the girls that sad Sunday-school-superintendent stare.'

I liked this passage a lot for a couple of reasons. The first reason being that it brought out some character in Sammy and showed us some of his attitude and sense of humor. The second reason that I liked this passage is because you see a great example of alliteration in "sad Sunday-school-superintendant stare", which is just a snippet of all of the great poetic devices that Updike uses. This passage is important to the story because it shows how Sammy thinks and could be perceived as a preview of him quitting the job, since he was (in a way) mocking his boss.