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The cause and effect of teenage rebellion
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Everyone is familiar with the characteristics of a rebellious teenager. This includes getting him/herself in trouble, having a short fuse, and making bad decisions just to state a few. They will go to extreme lengths to prove a point and are not afraid to make a decision without thinking of consequences. This definition of rebellion fits perfectly with Sammy, the main character/ narrator of “A&P” by John Updike. In this story Sammy quits his job to prove a point to himself and to the “upper class” girls he encounters, that he belongs living the good life with them. Quitting his job, Sammy is using this statement as a way to ensure to himself and the people around him (upper class girls and possibly his manager) that he is more valuable than …show more content…
this full time job. He works at a supermarket that his parents had pulled some strings to help him acquire, and feels like his life is missing out on so much. He wants to live the lavish life. He shows that he feels inferior in a quote in where he compares what he imagines the lifestyles of the rich girls’ parents to be to his own parents, “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.” He realizes this is not what he wants to do with his life and he cannot start living that lifestyle while still working at the A&P so he does what any rash rebellious teenager does, and he quits his job. Just like any other teenager, Sammy did not think about the implications of him quitting his job.
We (as a reader) do not know the extent of how far his parents stuck out their necks when helping him achieve the position that he currently is in. All we know is that Lengel said “Sammy, you don't want to do this to your Mom and Dad,” after Sammy said he no longer wanted the position because of how Lengel treated the girls. Regardless of his manager being wrong or right on the position of reprimanding the girls, which is not his job to enforce. He made himself look like a fool and he made his parents, who had probably put a good word in for him, also look like …show more content…
fools. If we look at the face value of the words in this story Sammy seems to be sticking up for the girls.
But as we look deeper we can now see that he was unhappy with his position and felt as if he was better than this. When he was talking about the other workers, he is talking down on them, an example is when he talks about his coworkers’ future, “and he thinks he's going to be manager some sunny day,” as if the almighty Sammy had some sort of say in this. So in short, Sammy is standing up for himself. He doesn’t want anyone to think of him as the middle class worker that he is, but rather as a man who is rich, and fancy, and has everything he wants. That is why he quits his job because as long he is behind that register or even working under the roof of A&P he will not be pleased with the way people look and judge
him. To conclude Sammy quits the job to make a statement to himself, this statement being that he is better than any middle class job. This is because Sammy believes he is above and is better than everyone else in similar financial standings to himself. In doing so he makes his parents look very foolish, coming from a non-wealthy family he is pretending to be something he is not and is portraying that position onto his parents’ friend, Lengel. By doing this it would seem to Lengel that his parents did not do a very good job in teaching him humility and respect. With that same attitude he “stands up for himself” and quits his job. Immediately after leaving the store and realizing he did not have anything better in store for himself he ends the story with this quote “my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter.”
Sammy is a product of his generation. In the 1960s the social climate was changing. The new ideas of the youth were taking over the traditions of their parents. Music and the drug culture began to change the perspective as more people were listening to rock and roll music and experimenting with mind-altering drugs in an effort to free themselves from the strict societal demands of the 1950s. Sammy demonstrates this as he describes his work uniform - the bow tie and apron. This can also be observed when Sammy's manager, Le...
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...
Lengel is a conformative type of person he makes up a rule just to make the girls leave the store. He says,"that's policy for you. Policy is what the kingpins want." The old woman is a conformative person for wanting Sammy to need the register up.
He criticizes his family and their background when he says, “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.” Sammy desires to move from a blue collar to a white collar family to differentiate him from his family. He shows his growing maturity when he says, “the girls who’d blame them, are in a hurry to get out, so I say ‘I quit’ to Lengal quick enough for them to hear, hoping they’ll stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero.” He wants to be noticed by the girls for his selfless act of quitting his job for them. His plan does not work though, and the girls leave him to face Lengal alone. Lengal confronts Sammy and says, “Sammy, you don’t want to do this to your mom and dad.” Sammy ponders Lengal’s comment and thinks to himself, “It’s true, I don’t. But it seems to me that once you begin a gesture it’s fatal not to go through with it.” Sammy has begun to reach maturity and now wants to make his own decisions concerning his future and how he spends
...s that Sammy is taking a stand and that Lengel cannot change his mind about quitting. When Sammy left the store, the girls where long gone. "His face was dark gray and his back stiff, as if he's just had an injection of iron, and my stomach kind of felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter." This quote illustrates that Sammy knows that his parents will not like the fact that he quit, but he realizes that he has to take charge with his life, and make his own chooses without being afraid of what his parents would think. He is very happy that he had taken a stand, and he let no one change it.
...gel's suggestion that he relent and keep his job, Sammy is actually saying "no" to his parents and their attempt to put him on the road to middle-class respectability.
Now that Sammy has chosen to become a juvenile delinquent, he realizes "how hard the world was going to be" for him in the future. He has left a life of safety and direction for one of the complete opposite, and he must be willing to accept the responsibilities of his actions, no matter the consequences.
Sammy’s Sophomoric Adolescent Transition into Adulthood The transition from childhood to adulthood is not only a physical challenge but, psychological and socially exhausting. John Updike who wrote “A & P” recognized this and used it characterize the main character. The protagonist Sammy was developed around the concept of the journey into adulthood. Sammy is a nineteen years old boy who works at the A&P grocery store in a small New England town. It is not until three young girls walk into the store in just their bathing suits that Sammy is faced with the realization that he undoubtedly has to face the harsh truth of growing up.
...gives him some insight into his future. As he is walking away from the A & P he sees "Lengel in [his] place in the slot, checking the sheep through. 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" (p.37). Sammy begins his transition from adolescence into adulthood here. He realizes that if he stays at the A & P he may end up like Lengel or the other sheep. He wants more out of life and his fantasy about being Queenie's "unsuspected hero" (p.36) allows him to escape. Sammy comes to the conclusion that life is not going to be easy and he is going to make decisions for himself that the people around him will not necessarily support.
The story unfolds when, “Lengel, the store’s manager” (2191) confronts the girls because they are dressed inappropriately. To Sammy, it is a moment of embarrassment and in defiance he quits his job. The student suggests that in quitting, “Sammy challenges social inequality and is a person who is trying to
Sammy’s point of view of conformity changes from passive to active which shows the growth of his character. Updike chooses a 19-year-old teenager as the first narrator. As a teenager, Sammy’s personal value is still developing and he is not fully shaped by the conformity, which suggests his quitting later in the story. Although Sammy’s perspective is unreliable since his thoughts are limited by his age, he gives readers a naiver perspective of the society. He simply considers the customers as “sheep” or followers when he works in A&P, such as: “The sheep pushing their carts down the aisle” (748). However, before he saw the girls, he was part of the conformity. He silently mocks the people being conservative, but does not show any rebuke against
Sammy observes their movements and gestures, up until the time of checkout. At which point, they are confronted by the store manager and chastised for their unacceptable appearance. He believes their attire is indecent. Sammy, feeling that the managerial display was unnecessary and unduly embarrassing for the girls, decides to quit his position as checker. Though he knows that his decision may be hasty, he knows that he has to follow through and he can never go back.
...p and you are not happy with where you are in life, and truly want a change. With Sammy he always wanted to quit but never had the guts to stand-up and go through with it, mostly cause he did not have that free thinking mentality like the girls. Even though when he finally did walk out of the store and the girls were not there, he had no idea what was next in life, but he did know that he was free to make his own decisions. Sammy no longer had to take Mr. Lengel’s nonsense, or stick around and watch Stocksie become manger. This was his time to stop being a push over and pave the path to his own future. His parents may have been upset, but this gave him an opportunity to stand up for his own actions and be confident in his choices he had made, regardless if they were for the right or for the wrong. Sammy was able to press forward and start a new chapter in his life.
Sammy confronts Lengel and tells him that he didn’t have to embarrass them like that, but it does no good.
“Sammy wishes to quit, but he resists doing so because his parents would regard his decision as 'the sad part of the story'” (Thompson 215). Sammy points out that he thinks of quitting his job many times during the story, subtle as they are, he begins with the observation of quitting during the summer rather the winter and the part where he has mentioned “the sad part of the story” (Up...