preview

Character Development In John Updike's A & P

Decent Essays

Through different developments, people experience multiple emotions and thoughts. Many people often do not find themselves fully going through change. As change occurs in the development of characteristics, it helps explain the full potential of what can or may be happening in a situation. The potential that may be expressed in the characteristics, can explain the development of how a person will impact with what may happen next. Even though change is not chosen, it demonstrates how someone or something can take action in what they are doing or plan to do. Character development can be shown through hormonal changes, how a character goes from being self-centered to taking a stand for their own opinion, and the transition to the realization of position just as Sammy, the main character, experienced in the story “A&P” by John Updike. …show more content…

As Sammy being a growing teen, he is beginning to witness the lustful perspective of girls that he sees at the store. Sammy begins to visualize the girls, especially Queenie, with strong details to show how much he was attracted to them as shown when he says, “With the straps pushed off, there was nothing between the top of the suit and the top of her head except just her, this clean bare plane of the top of her chest down from the shoulder bones like a dented sheet of metal tilted in the light.” (Updike 321). These strong descriptions begin the development of Sammy’s voluptuous teen years. As he develops, he begins to take a turn from being self-centered to becoming more defending towards himself and the girls from his coworkers just to show off how heroic he can

Get Access