The short story "A&P" by John Updike starts in an A&P on a Thursday afternoon. (Updike) An A&P was a grocery store that was very popular in its day. All A&P employees dressed the same way with white aprons and white shirts with a read bow tie. The buildings were all identical to each other; they are built out of red brick and had white trim. The protagonist in the story is a check out person at the A&P named Sammy. (Updike) Sammy is young and quick to fall in love. (Updike) He decides to make a chose between his job and some girls he just met. Lingle is the antagonist and manager of the A&P. Lingle embarrasses the girls, when he confronts them about their artier or lack of artier. IN "A&P" by Updike, the setting is used to show how immature the characters are, create realism through details, and create atmosphere.
The setting shows how immature the characters are. The girls walk in the A&P and are way under dressed in that day and time. Updike shows there immaturity when Lingle confronts them and they do not realize they are out of place. Sammy the check out person shows his immaturity in three ways. First, the way Sammy looks at the girls shows he is very immature. He describes the first one as a "chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white under it, where the sun never seems to hit.(Updike 369) Secondly, Sammy falls in love with the one he calls queenly so fast. He dreams about meeting her parents before he ever hears her voice. The final way Sammy shows his immaturity is quitting. Lingual his manager had all the right in the world to confront the girls because of they brook the A&P policies.
Details in "A&P" are not hard to come by. The Detail Updike gives in the story creates realism. The reader can visualize every thing that is happening in the story. When the story starts, with all the details the reader can see in their mind a boy at the front counter working a cash register watching people as they come in.