A & P

In "A & P" by John Updike, the female characters are presented as underlings in the narrator's eyes. Sammy watches these women walk around the store, judging every step that they are taking, judging every part of their bodies. Also, while these three girls walk by other women shopping, the narrator has something negative to say about them as well. The three girls are characterized as snobby rich girls, while the other women shopping in the store are characterized as flocks of sheep. At first, the reader is lead to believe that Queenie is a dominant woman. The narrator describes the way she walks so confidently and with her eyes straight ahead, like nothing is interesting to her. However, when the girls get to the register and the manager asks them not to dress the way they are in the store, they are submissive. In this story, women play a major role in the plot. If it weren't for these girls, Sammy would not have gotten mad at his boss, he would not have felt bad for the girls, and therefore wouldn't have quit. The narrator does not have anything nice to say about women in this story. He starts out describing the woman who he thinks watches the cashier intently every time she is being rung up. He also calls her a witch by saying she would be burned in Salem if she were born at the right time. He also calls all the women sheep that are shopping in the store. The one nice thing Sammy says about a woman in this story is when he calls Queenie "more than pretty." The only conversation between a male and female in this story is when the manager is talking with the girls. He keeps telling the girls "this isn't the beach," and the girls plead back to him "we ARE decent."