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Growing and changing is something that everyone must do, but everyone does it in a different way. When kids grow up they hit puberty, and their voices and bodies change causing them to look very different from when they were a kid. They then go on to change even more, but this change is different. They change their views on the world, but the older they get, the less they change. This means that people change the most when they are young. When they are young, they are more vulnerable and easily influenced, thats why they are always changing their opinion on things. When they get older they have their set opinion and that rarely ever changes. In “A&P”, the main character, Sammy, goes through a change that gives him more insight on the world …show more content…
He notices that he doesn’t want to work at A & P anymore. The manager at A & P comes out to address the girls for obvious reasons. He tells them that the store “isn’t the beach” and so on. They have a small disagreement where the manager tells them that they need to be decently dressed when they come in the store, but the girls feel like they are decent. The manager lets Sammy check them out so that they can hurry and get out of the store, but no one was in as much as a hurry as them. They were rushing to get out because they were embarrassed. This is when Sammy realizes he doesn’t want to work there anymore. He want to be their “unsuspected hero” and he tries to quit fast enough so that they could hear him, but they were already out walking hurrying to get out as fast as they could. Sammy quits because he could feel their embarrassment and he tells his manager that he didn’t have to embarrass them like that. The manager explains himself by saying that they were the ones who embarrassed him. I think Sammy quit because he felt that the girls shouldn’t be looked at sexually in the way they were. He thinks that the manager saw the girls as inappropriate because women are not supposed to wear these types of things outside of where they are acceptable like at home and at the pool. Sammy feels that the girls should be respected more so he does the honorable thing and quits his job. He tries to hurry and do …show more content…
He grew out of his child-like adolescent years and grew into an honorable young man. It can be argued whether Sammy changed to see the encounter in a different way or whether he changed when he saw the encounter in a different way. Something I found interesting in the story is when he kept talking about their white skin. Why was Sammy so intrigued by their skin for example he describes one of the girls legs as “white prima-donna legs.” Was it because it was the early 60s or did he just really take a liking to white skin. He might have also changed in this way because towards the end of the story, he doesn’t really talk about how beautiful and white their skin is. This could also be because maybe he was over describing them, but most likely he still likes their beautiful white skin because he quits his job mostly for them. Sammy changed for the better and he grew out of childhood to adulthood. This story shows how big of a growth and change people grow through when they move into their adult
Sammy is a 19-year-old boy conveying a cocky but cute male attitude. He describes three girls entering the A & P, setting the tone of the story. "In walk these three girls in nothing but bathing suits. There was this chunky one, with the two piece-it was bright green and the seams on the bra were still sharp and her belly was still pretty pale...there was this one, with one of those chubby berry-faces, the lips all bunched together under her nose, this one, and a tall one, with black hair that hadn't quite frizzed righ...
Sammy, the protagonist in John Updike’s “A&P,” is a dynamic character because he reveals himself as an immature, teenage boy at the beginning of the story and changes into a mature man at the end. The way Sammy describes his place of work, the customers in the store, and his ultimate choice in the end, prove his change from an immature boy to a chivalrous man. In the beginning, he is unhappy in his place of work, rude in his description of the customers and objectification of the three girls, all of which prove his immaturity. His heroic lifestyle change in the end shows how his change of heart and attitude transform him into mature young man.
During the progression of A&P, Sammy's words and action reflect his growth from an immature teenager to a person who takes a stand for what he believes is wrong.
He was involuntarily pushed into the meaning and concept of being an adult. “His face was dark gray and his back stiff, as if he’d just had an injection of iron, and my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter.” (Updike 162) Sammy was a youthful young boy whose actions did not bother him as they did not seem to affect the people around him. However, the tough lesson that he learned on this day was a realization that his actions speak just as loud as his
As the student begins his essay, he points out that Sammy is part of the lower class structure. He is an “eighteen-year-old boy who is working as a checkout clerk in an A&P in a small New England town five miles from the beach” (2191). While working an afternoon shift on Thursday, he notices “these girls in nothing but bathing suits” (2191) enter the store. It is in this scene that the student begins to identify the differences between the group of girls and Sammy.
He leaves, with a clean consciousness, but the burden of not knowing what the future has in store. This story represents a coming-of-age for Sammy. Though it takes place over the period of a few minutes, it represents a much larger process of maturation. From the time the girls enter the grocery store, to the moment they leave, you can see changes in Sammy. At first, he sees only the physicality of the girls: how they look and what they wear, seem to be his only observations.
Lengel, the manager of the store, spots the girls and gives them a hard time about their dress in the store. He tells them, “Girls, this isn’t the beach.” He says that they are not dressed appropriately to come into this grocery store. Lengel’s words cause Queenie to get embarrassed and start to blush. Sammy cannot believe this and gets frustrated at his boss. He doesn’t believe that it is right to prosecute these innocent girls for the way they are dressed. He also states at this point that the sheep are piling up over in Stokesie line trying to avoid all the commotion the scene has caused. I believe Sammy takes this as the last straw in a long string of aggravations.
Sammy then has an internal dialogue that takes sides with the girls and in a rebellion against the “policy” Lengel mentioned, regardless if the girls really had the same sort of rebellious spirit of Sammy or if they just stopped in to or from a beach and trying to avoid confrontation and hoping to leave soon. As the girls leave the convenience store Sammy yells “I quit” as if the girls symbolized freedom from his boring dead-end job, hoping that the girls will take him with them and help him run away from the day to day “cash register watcher” routine; feeling that he was too young to work that hard, too young to die that fast. While Sammy was preparing to leave the store “Lengel sighs and begins to look very patient and old and gray. He’s been a friend of my parents for years. ‘Sammy you don’t want to do this to your mom and dad,’ he tells me. It’s true, I don’t. But it seems to me that once you start a gesture, it’s fatal not to go through with it. I fold the apron, ‘Sammy’ stitched on the red pocket, and put it on the counter, and drop the bow tie on top of it.” (pg. 432) at this point Sammy is threatened by Lengel’s blackmail, but isn’t faced by it and proceeds to drop his uniform, symbolizing his growth from the small convenience store. As Sammy walks through the door of the A & P he turns around and sees Lengel’s face, “His face was dark gray
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross once said, “Learning lessons is a little like reaching maturity. You're not suddenly more happy, wealthy, or powerful, but you understand the world around you better, and you're at peace with yourself. Learning life's lessons is not about making your life perfect, but about seeing life as it was meant to be.” In “A & P”, John Updike portrays the narrator, Sammy, as a young male who is satisfied with the simplicity of life; however, Sammy’s exterior does not reflect his disposition as he enters adulthood and begins to forge his own path. A deeper understanding of Sammy’s character and values is revealed through an analysis of Updike’s text. Sammy’s observations reveal that he is an ambitious individual who is restrained by his immature and contemptuous attitude.
John Updike's use of descriptive diction, along with his fantastic example of hyperbole in Sammie's (he spelled the main character's name wrong) deep observation of his surroundings forms a well crafted story that envelops the reader in thought on the tough subjects of being a social hero and how far is it worth it in A&P.
Sammy begins to notice how different the girls are since they are walking around the store in just bathing suits and begins to talk about his manager Mr. Lengel and coworker that’s working beside him Stokesie. Saying how Mr. Lengel hides in his office. Which some can incur that Sammy doesn’t want to have that life where he’s hiding who he is as a person. Next, he goes and mentions Stokesie, who is married and has two kids already at the age of twenty-two. To him it seems neither of the men seems happy. Just off my observation of Sammy, he likes the idea of being an individual rather, than being the same as everyone else who just come and go every day with not much to change to their day. Sammy begins to realize that, he doesn’t want to be stuck in the grocery business for the rest of the life. Finally, when Sammy see’s Mr. Lengel ridicule the girls for dressing in just bathing suits. After that situation Sammy takes it upon himself to try and stand up for the girls against his boss, seeing that he was their unsung hero. In which after he does that, he quits his job. Making a big decision like shows a lot of growth and dedication. Instead of just standing like a Stokesie was, he takes a stand. After that Sammy leaves the store and sees the girls are not there waiting to see him but instead sees just a mother and her kids that are crying. Sammy begins to see how the world is and that even good deeds can go
John Updike’s “A&P” is the best short-story because its setting, characters, and diction all show how love and growing up are equally tough but combine to support Sammy’s thoughts as it relates to social norms and the difficulties faced with adulthood. The setting is the A&P Supermarket, which was the epicenter for shoppers within many communities of the time, and was comparable to a Wal-Mart Supercenter of today. Additionally, the store was described as being a centerpiece of the community. The characters are well described through subtle wordplay with the main character and narrator having a life-defining moment where he has had an epiphany of sorts of the challenges that he and all young adults will face as adults. Updike’s diction
John Updike writes the short story, “A&P” about the protagonist, Sammy. Three girls walked into the store he worked at, A&P, half dressed. Sammy watched every move and every aisle the girls walked down. When his boss, Lengal, noticed what the girls were wearing and confronted them, Sammy gained his motivation to stand up for the girls. Sammy realized it was a mistake when he quit his job. Sammy had motivation to go against his boss, Lengal’s word and he wanted to impress the three girls in the store.
His passion seemed to display itself through his need to stand up for the young women in the store. This might be symbolism for something deeper, than trying to impress the girls. His rage for the managers disrespect towards the women is an allegory for the fight against establishment and socially constructed rules. The reader is able to clearly see Sammy’s disgruntled response towards the unsubstantiated humiliation of the girls. His quest to advocate for the girls is a testament to his ambition to fight for those who are not equipped to fight for themselves. He was strong in his beliefs and morals. He saw the mistreatment of other people and it made him angry. He had this strong belief in his morals because of his up bring and his
John Updike's A&P provides numerous perspectives for critical interpretation. His descriptive metaphors and underlying sexual tones are just the tip of the iceberg. A gender analysis could be drawn from the initial outline of the story and Sammy's chauvinism towards the female. Further reading opens up a formalist and biographical perspective to the critic. After several readings I began seeing the Marxist perspective on the surreal environment of A&P. The economic and social differences are evident through Sammy's storytelling techniques and even further open up a biographical look at Updike's own view's and opinions. According to an essay posted on the internet Updike was a womanizer in his own era and displayed boyish immaturity into his adulthood. A second analysis of this story roots more from a reader-response/formalist view. Although Sammy centered his dramatization around three young females, more specifically the Queen of the trio, it was a poignant detailed head to toe description of scene. I'll touch on that later.