Through the Eyes of a Teenager in A & P, A Short Story by John Updike

Who is Sammy? Why he quit his job at the grocery store? Sammy is a nineteenth year old young man who works as a cashier at “A&P” grocery store in a small town.Also, Sammy can be described in many ways,he is very open mind it person when it come to customer around him. He seems not interesting at his job that he have very for long time, when he saw three girls with they bathing suit by the beach it caught is attention. The purpose of Sammy’s quit his job because the manager insulted the girls inside the store and Sammy have a judgmental attitude toward him.

Sammy is immature because he does not take his job seriously and he is not responsible. One example in the story is when he stood there with his “hand on a box of HiHo crackers trying to remember if I rang it up or not. I ring it up again and the customer starts giving me hell.” (Updike 1) As we can see Sammy is distracted and is not focused on his job and still gets a little frustrated because the old lady gets mad at him. He also does not enjoy working at the grocery store and admits that his boss is mean and takes his job too seriously. Another reason why he is immature is because when he uses the cash register and mentioned that “it begins to make a little song, that you hear words to, in my case "Hello (bing) there, you (gung) hap-py pee-pul (splat)"-the splat being the drawer flying out.” (Updike 21) It seems that Sammy thinks like a little childish because he uses noises and words that you can find in comic books like splat, gung etc. We also find out that Sammy is not responsible. He is still living with his parents and her mom has to iron his shirt the night before. One important phrase that the manager Lengel says is “Sammy, you don't want to do this to your Mom and Dad”. It seems that it is not the first time that Sammy has let his parents down. He knows is true, but does not think about it and decides to quit. The Manager is friends with Sammy’s parents and knows that Sam needs the job to prove his parents that he is responsible. Overall, Sammy is premature, he is not responsible and does not take the job seriously. He also thinks like a child and does not think about the consequences.

      A more likely explanation for Sammy's abrupt resignation from his job is his complete boredom with it. This dissatisfaction with his work situation is plainly seen in his regard for a group that Sammy holds in even more contempt than the girls: the regular, paying customers. His references to them as "sheep," "houseslaves" and "pigs" reveals his attitude toward the group that keeps his employer in business--and Sammy in a job that he hates. His diatribe in the story's beginning directed at the "witch" who points out to him that he rang up the same purchase twice shows the unreasonable nature of this contempt for the customers: the mistake was quite clearly Sammy's fault, yet he lashes out at a customer who simply did what any

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

We learn about Sammy's station in life through the setting of the story. He is not a big time war hero or superstar but a checker at a small town A & P, not moving up in his job or down, simply stagnant. The town is located north of Boston, five miles from a beach, with a summer colony on the Point. Sammy is ready to make a change. He wants to be part of the girls' world. Sammy's thoughts give us some insight in his feeling that the girls, just like the wealthy summer colony they came from, are out of his reach. "All of a sudden I slid right down her voice into her living room. Her father and all the other men were standing around in ice-cream coats and bow ties...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."

To begin with, Sammy shows a rude attitude through the story. He indicates little regard for other people’s age or knowledge. To illustrate, Sammy asserts the old aged customer, who reprimands Sammy for scanning her item two times while he is gawking at the girls, is “a witch about fifty … [who] would have burned her over in Salem” (Updike 320). Sammy’s despise toward this old lady—in fact shoppers—is perceptible. Also, when Sammy quits A&P, he talks discourteously to his manager Lengel. The readers soom comes to discover that Lengel is a friend of Sammy’s parents. Lengel attempts persude Sammy from making his rash decision, pointing out that he does not want to do to this to his

Sammy is stuck in that difficult transition between childhood and adulthood. He is a nineteen-year-old cashier at an A&P, the protagonist in a story with the same name. John Updike, the author of "A&P," writes from Sammy's point of view, making him not only the main character but also the first person narrator. The tone of the story is set by Sammy's attitude, which is nonchalant but frank--he calls things as he sees them. There is a hint of sarcasm in Sammy's thoughts, for he tends to make crude references to everything he observes. Updike uses this motif to develop the character of Sammy, as many of these references relate to the idea of "play."

Sammy philosophical differences first show in his feeling sorry for the girls at the way McMahon, the butcher had leered at them, even though Sammy himself was guilty of the same lewd conduct. I believe Sammy thought it acceptable for him to leer at the girls, but not for old McMahon because of the difference in age between Sammy and McMahon. Sammy's philosophical differences culminate with him quitting his job because of the way his boss, Lengel, treated the girls. Even though Lengel states its the store policy and it applies to everyone, Sammy views this as unfair treatment of the girls and uses this to take a stand for his beliefs and quits. Sammy realizes the magnitude of his philosophical decision when he walks out and finds the girls are gone and nothing has changed. Sammy realizes he has made a choice and he must stick to that choice even though nothing has changed. The decision he made was his choice based on his personal belief of right and wrong, even if Mr. Lengel and his parents couldn't understand that.

To Dessner ,critic of Updike's “A & P,” Sammy is naive to an outrageous extent but also ambitious in morals while also believing that Sammy has no care for the circumstances of his actions (315, 316). To some extent Dessner is correct about Sammy having ambitious morals, on page 413 in the Norton Intro to Literature shows how Sammy's morals are about treating people right even if they break the unwritten rules of a public place, yet his

Even though Sammy’s mindset is childlike, he still tries to portray himself in an adult manner. The reader can observe throughout the story the way in which Sammy thinks to be immature and quick to judge. Having his concentration only on the girls, he made a mistake while ringing up a customer. Because he is so focused on how the girls are dressed and what they are up to, he has full descriptions of each girl and thinks he has them all figured out. He points out the leader and even names her “Queenie” while not giving the other two as much attention. The reader can see how Sammy sort of mocks some of the customers when he sees Lengel “checking the sheep through” (Updike 435). Sammy’s priority, which should only be ringing up customers, but happens to be seeing what the girls are up

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

Transition -- Finally Supporting point 3--Sammy quickly judges Queenie to be of a higher social class based solely on her voice. Quote- He imagines a cocktail party at her house, suggesting the “men in ice-cream coats and bow ties” are drinking drinks “the color of water with olives and sprigs of mint” (826). Explain/relate quote to point-- When he relates a party scene from his own home, he imagines people drinking malt liquor rather than martinis. Concluding sentence --Sammy childishly makes impulsive judgments about everyone he sees, never attempting to look beneath the surface. 2 Topic Sentence -- Sammy also exhibits disrespect throughout the story. Supporting point 1 -- He shows little respect for age or

When Lengel sees the girls at the checkout counter, he says, “Girls, this isn’t the beach.” As the girls leave the in a hurry, Sammy says, “I quit.” Sammy hopes that the girls will hear, but they don’t and just keep on walking out to their car. Lengel reassures Sammy that he doesn’t want to quit, but Sammy wants to be these girls hero. As Sammy gets out to the parking lot, he looks around for the girls. He hoped that they would wait for him. Sammy thinks that he could hook-up with Queenie if he quits his job.

From the beginning of the story, it is clear that Sammy does not likes his job, nor is he fond of the customers and people he is surrounded by each day. To Sammy, they are nothing more than "sheep" going through the motions of life. "I bet you could set

Before the girls enter the store, Sammy is unaware that the setting he is so judgmental of reflects his own life. Sammy feels that he is better than the rest of people at the A&P, referring to them as "sheep" and "house-slaves" because they never break from their daily routines. He also condescendingly talks about "whatever it is they[the