In the short story A&P, John Updike tells the story of Sammy, an opinionated teenager who works at the checkout line in a small-town grocery store called A&P. It is evident at the beginning of the story that Sammy’s sarcasm doesn’t become unnoticed. He is very aware of his surroundings, especially when three girls, about Sammy’s age, walk into the store with nothing on but bathing suits. We soon see the distraction these girls bring to the store when his boss takes notice and becomes judgmental of their appearance in front of Sammy. This particular scene reveals the battle between Sammy’s generation and the wholesomeness of the country town. In the end, Sammy’s hormones takeover and he quits his job to express his maturity to the girls,
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You can tell he had some hesitation taking off his apron, but he knew once he took it off, he could not put it back on. I think Sammy matured by the end of the story. Even though his manager explained to him how his parents would not be happy and the regret he might have by quitting, Sammy still discloses, “It’s true, I don’t. But it seems to me that once you begin a gesture its fatal not to go through with it,” (par. 23). I can relate to this, because soon enough I will have to quit my job at the grocery store, and move on to the next stage of my life. Throughout A&P, you see growth within Sammy, his disagreements, and words begin to mature by the end of the story. Finally, Sammy realizes his destiny is not to work at A&P for the rest of his life, but to move on to improved things, even if it took a group of girls for him to realize this.
Work Cited
Updike, John. "A&P.” Literature An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing, Compact Edition (5th Edition) (Kennedy/Gioia Literature Series). Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 12th ed. New York: Longman, 2007. 17-22.
You can tell he had some hesitation taking off his apron, but he knew once he took it off, he could not put it back on. I think Sammy matured by the end of the story. Even though his manager explained to him how his parents would not be happy and the regret he might have by quitting, Sammy still discloses, “It’s true, I don’t. But it seems to me that once you begin a gesture its fatal not to go through with it,” (par. 23). I can relate to this, because soon enough I will have to quit my job at the grocery store, and move on to the next stage of my life. Throughout A&P, you see growth within Sammy, his disagreements, and words begin to mature by the end of the story. Finally, Sammy realizes his destiny is not to work at A&P for the rest of his life, but to move on to improved things, even if it took a group of girls for him to realize this.
Work Cited
Updike, John. "A&P.” Literature An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing, Compact Edition (5th Edition) (Kennedy/Gioia Literature Series). Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 12th ed. New York: Longman, 2007. 17-22.