John Updike's "A&P" begins "In walks these three girls in nothing but bathing suits"(487). The title and first line surprise us almost as much as the girls did the other characters in the story. We are surprised again when Sammy, the narrator, quits his checkout job at t...

"A&P" has a more effective way of conveying the theme of coming of age than "Araby." John Updike can show the painfully normal life the main character (Sammy) lives and the rash decisions that are reminiscent of a child's, which explains how and why Sammy quit his job. Even in Sammy's most de...