Sammy's Plats Out Character Analysis

Sammy has many traits that describe him very well. Many of Sammy's traits are expectations that are put onto him and other teenage boys by the society he lives in. Sammy is a misogynist (to hate women) he does not directly show or even say that he hates women, but it can still be seen through his actions and his thoughts throughout the story. He sees women in a way that is not at all respectful. But during the sixties, it was actually normal for women to be seen and treated as inferior to men, and it was normal for them to get treated disrespectfully by them. Sammy fits perfectly in this society , because we all have seen through the ways he had ‘checked out’ the girls in the supermarket. His examination leads him to sexualizing

As written, “but remembering how he made that pretty girl blush makes me so scrunchy inside I punch the No Sale tab and the machine whirs "pee-pul" and the drawer splats out.” (5) Sammy refers back to the blush he had seen on Queenie’s face, as described, “Queenie’s blush is no sunburn now.” (3) that he notices due to his keen observance. This further motivates him to quit his job because of the embarrassment Queenie experienced due to Lengel's blatant confrontation. Lengel's confrontation comes from his dominant role given to him by society because of his being a grown man. Sammy is concerned and confused about transcending adolescence and moving into adulthood. Throughout the story, he refers to the middle aged customers as “sheep” because he sees them all as the same, boring, people. His descriptions of the customers or grownups in general are typically negative, and aren’t worded in a way which makes you think that adulthood is within his desires. For example, “There wasn't anybody but some young married screaming with her children about some…”(5). In that quote, he describes the scene of a mother screaming at her children, making it seem that to be in her position is yet another reason to avoid adulthood. He also describes an older customer as unsightly and has her come off as irritating and grouchy, as stated, “She's one of these cash-register-watchers, a witch about fifty with rouge on her cheekbones and no eyebrows, and I know it made her day to trip me up. She'd been watching cash registers forty years and probably never seen a mistake before." As well, he emphasized her role as an elder by saying that 'she'd been watching cash registers forty years." The portrayal of adults throughout the whole of the story is bland, negative, and makes the general idea of reaching adulthood seem uninviting to