Coming Of Age In John Updike's A & P

From the moment the girls enter, Sammy describes in massive detail their looks and the way they uphold themselves. As he devotes his entire attention towards Queenie and the other girls he loses focus off of his job requirements and makes a mistake.The reader learns that Sammy has been working at A & P for a while because he is familiar with his customers, the cash register and the aisle. For instance, in paragraph 1 he labels his customer a witch because he wasn’t sure if he

In "A&P," Sammy is initially drawn to three girls, Queenie, Plaid, and Big Tall Goony Goony, perusing the grocery store and while he is drawn to the leader of the group, Queenie, he soon begins to note how they are a contrast of what middle-class suburbanites consider to be acceptable. Sammy notes,

John Updike's story "A&P" talks about a 19-year old lad, Sammy, who has a job at the local grocery store, the A&P. Sammy works at the register in the store and is always observing the people who walk in and out each day. On this particular day that the story takes place, Sammy is caught off guard when a cluster of girls walk into the store wearing just their bathing suits. This caught Sammy's attention because the nearest beach is five miles away and he could not figure out why they would still be in their suits. Sammy continues to overlook the girls in the store throughout their endeavor to pick up some item's that they were sent in for. While they are wandering around the store Sammy watches the reactions of other customers, is yelled at

Sammy, having heard enough of Lengel humiliating the girls, takes his heroic stand announcing that “he quit.” He even takes off his apron that had his name personally stitch on it and his bow tie. Another reason why Sammy quit the store probably gravitates toward Queenie and he may have wanted to talk to her, but Lengel ruined his chance by interfering. For example, Sammy said, "remembering how he made that pretty girl blush makes me so scrunchy inside I punched the No Sale tab.” He probably wanted to make Queenie blush by giving her compliments, but Lengel embarrassed her by making judgment due to her outfit and the situation definitely had an effect on Sammy since he punched the machine. Clearly, Sammy wanted the attention and was hoping the girls will give him some recognition for defending them, which became a lost cause and once he realized that his outburst didn’t attract the girls, his intentions changed. Sammy quit displaying that he’s becoming more independent as well as his transition to adulthood while at the same time defending the girls. It would also appear that he might’ve relied on his parents for some time. During the conversation between Sammy and Lengel before making his rash decision to quit, Lengel said, “Sammy, you don’t want to do this to your Mom and Dad,” implying that he will disappoint his parents if they quit because his parents are a friend of Lengel’s and they pretty much got Sammy the job at A&P. This shows that his parents’ efforts to get him the job would be a waste of time on

When Sammy sees the store manager, Lengel, embarrass the girls, not only does Sammy see the ability to look heroic in front of his three mystery girls, like an "unsuspected hero" (Updike 618), he also sees the ability to get out of his boring nine to five job. Partially, because he is only nineteen and very immature in the way he views the world, he may have thought the girls would find him heroic. However, as soon as he quits his job

When three young teenage girls enter the store wearing nothing but bathing suits, things begin to change for Sammy. Sammy takes notice of the actions of the girls; how they go against the normal “traffic flow” of the supermarket and break the social rules of society with their attire. It is these attributes that attract Sammy to them, as they represent freedom and escape from the life he finds himself in. When Lengel approaches them and reprimands them for what they are wearing, Sammy quits in the hopes of becoming the girls unsuspected hero.

Updike's use of setting helps to contribute to the development of the theme of the story by making the reader understand the conformity of the society in which Sammy is yearning to escape. The story, “A&P”, takes place in the local A&P grocery store in the 1960s, a time in which it was abnormal to break free from the social norms of the

As John Updike illustrates, the standard for modesty that has been established in Sammy's culture prevents the customers and employees from being placed in an awkward and unpleasant situation. For example, if the three girls in the story had come in without any cloths, Sammy still could have argued that it was their free choice; however, this example would more clearly justify the need for some level of structured standards. Sammy's character defends the girls by protesting, “[Lengel] didn't have to embarrass them,” (Updike 134) but the fact that he quits his job over the issue shows that he is very impulsive and rash. His unwillingness to even work in the same place as Lengel because of their opposing values shows that Sammy took the matter to an adverse extreme. Some standards are important to hold because they can keep the peace between individuals and establish an acceptable form of conduct to

Sammy shows that he is a young lustful sort of guy. Once the girls come into the store he can not keep his eyes off of them. He also seem a little too quick to quit his job. He thinks he is making a grand jester that he hopes the girls notice but they don't.

He can let Lengel’s criticism of Queenie and her friends go, therefore conforming to society’s standards, or he can voice his own opinions and become independent. He appears to come to his own conclusion on what to do when he reminds himself of Queenie’s reaction to Lengel. Updike writes, “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” (167). Sammy then realizes the magnitude of what he has done once he has left the store. Updike writes, “… and my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter” (167). Sammy knows that now, since he has gone against the normalities of society, he will not be looked upon fondly by others around him. Although he may not be liked by all, he has become his own person with his own thoughts, marking his coming of age and transition to adulthood. The external conflict experienced by Sammy in “A&P” helped him transition from conformity to

Sammy is the only character in this story who asserts his individuality. Two of the girls are simply following their leader, and Queenie is easily embarrassed and capitulates to Lengel. The other shoppers

Sammy is your typical nineteen-year old boy who observes the customers in the store and judges them based on their physical appearances. He notices all the details around him and absorbs them. Mostly he notices

Sammy a young man working working at A&P grocery store in a small new England town. Three young girls approaching in to the grocery store from the beach with only wearing bathing suits. By the time the three girls reach to Sammy’s checkout line, Sammy speculates their motivation and their personalities for entering the store dressed the way they are. Sammy is mostly interested to attractive girls, so he had a crush with the leader of the three girls. To get the three girls attention, Sammy starts joking around with his coworker but it seemed like not working. Soon later, the three girls finished

Sammy idealizes being original and standing out without fear of repercussions. This is demonstrated throughout his thoughts and actions. But, it is more of a fantasy to him to be original. He works a mediocre job, with average people, doing average things such as being as cashier. He seems to have a yearning for more in life and yearns to be seen as great. It seems as if his desire to be successful and original is channelled into his views of others. He admires one of young girls dressed in a bathing

As the girls were just about done checking out, Sammy’s manager walked into the store and came over to his register. The Manager went on to tell the girls how “this isn’t the beach” and how “We want you decently dressed when you come in here” (Lawn 342) . Sammy noticed that Queenie began to blush and was starting to get embarrassed by the whole ordeal. This seemed to upset Sammy a great deal. I feel that Sammy stood up for Queenie and the other girls more than he would have when he figured that they were most likely part of the upper-class due to what they were purchasing for Queenie’s mother. As soon as Queenie said that, Sammy instantly pictured himself at Queenie’s house during a party with her mother and father enjoying the jar of herring snacks that Queenie was purchasing. Sammy then went on to compare this to what it was like when his mother had some people over and how they drank from glasses with cartoons stenciled on. As the girls quickly walked out of the store Sammy told his manager that he quits because Sammy felt that his manager handled the situation wrong by embarrassing Queenie. This was a major decision for Sammy to make so spur of the moment. With the help and incentive from Queenie and the other girls, Sammy was able to stand up for what he felt was the right thing at that time. After quitting Sammy walks outside in hopes that the girls will still be out there. When Sammy