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When Sammy hears that Queenie is purchasing the Kingfish Fancy Herring Snacks in Pure Sour Cream for her mother, he immediately imagines the kind of gathering at which these snacks might be served and contrasts the image with the kind of parties his own parents throw. He recognizes that Queenie comes from a higher socioeconomic class than he does, and that to her, "the crowd that runs the A&P must look pretty crummy." This class difference also contributes to the feeling of foreboding Sammy has about his future at the end of the story.
Herring Snacks Quotes in A&P
The A&P quotes below all refer to the symbol of Herring Snacks. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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A&P
Quotes
"My mother asked me to pick up a jar of herring snacks." […]All of a sudden I slid right down her voice into her living room. Her father and the other men were standing around in ice-cream coats and bow ties and the women were in sandals picking up herring snacks on toothpicks off a big plate and they were all holding drinks the color of water with olives and sprigs of mint in them. When my parents have somebody over they get lemonade and if it's a real racy affair Schlitz in tall glasses with "They'll Do It Every Time" cartoons stenciled on.
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Explanation and Analysis:
"We are decent," Queenie says suddenly, her lower lip pushing, getting sore now that she remembers her place, a place from which the crowd that runs the A & P must look pretty crummy. Fancy Herring Snacks flashed in her very blue eyes.
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Herring Snacks Symbol Timeline in A&P
The timeline below shows where the symbol Herring Snacks appears in A&P. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
A&P
...but an elderly customer reaches Stokesie first. Queenie hands Sammy a jar of Kingfish Fancy Herring Snacks in Pure Sour Cream for 49 cents and pulls a folded dollar bill from the...
(full context)
..."this isn't the beach." Queenie blushes and explains that her mother told her to buy herring snacks , which immediately sets Sammy to imagining the type of high-class background Queenie comes from....
(full context)
