...Xavian Arnold Dr. Patterson English 112 28 March 2012 A & P: An Analysis of the Character “Sammy” As people age, maturity and wisdom is gained through every experience. From the time a child turns eighteen and becomes an adult, they are required to deal with the realities of the real world and learn how to handle its responsibilities. In John Updike’s short story “A&P” the protagonist Sammy is a young man in 1961 New England who works in the town’s local grocery store. In a matter of a day, Updike goes from an immature boy with unrealistic ideas and fantasies, to a man who is about to realize how life altering the choices he makes can be. Sammy realizes that life isn’t always fair and that sometimes it involves the consequences that life can deal to anyone who has not had time to test a rash decision. Updike’s story illustrates that a part of growing up is a willingness to accept consequences of one’s choices, and that life's hardest lessons are sometimes learned a little too late. This story represents a coming-of-age for Sammy, as seen through his evaluations of the costumers as the story develops. Though it takes place over the period of a few minutes, it represents a much larger process of Sammy’s growth. From the time the girls enter the grocery store, to the moment they leave, you can see changes in Sammy. At first, he only notices the physical appearance of the girls: how they look and what they are wearing, seem to be his only thoughts. As the story...
Words: 1114 - Pages: 5
...Growing Up: Much Harder Than We Expected As people age and grow up, maturity and wisdom is gained through every experience. From the time a child becomes an adult, they are required to deal with real life situations, and learn how to handle their responsibilities. In the short story “A&P” by John Updike, Sammy the narrator, is a young immature nineteen-year-old that makes a drastic change to his life. His immaturity and wishing to do and say whatever he wants leads into consequences he must face. The short story, A&P, takes place in a small New England town’s A&P grocery store. A&P is in the center off the town, five miles down the beach. Sammy is a grocery cashier, who finds himself fascinated by three girls in swim suits. Chunky or plain girl, is the first girl that catches Sammy’s attention. She has a tan with lines behind her back legs were the sun never hits. There was this tall girl too. Big tall “Goony-Goony” with a chin that was too long. The third one was the leader or “Queenie”, the name that Sammy used, was the most beautiful of all three. The way she walked with her prima-donna long legs catch Sammy’s attention. As the girls go around shopping through the store, Sammy observes the reactions of other customers as they see this girls outfit. The girls, however appear to be unique in all aspects. Walking down the aisle barefoot, standing up straight with their necks over stretched. They are different than the usual customers that Sammy sees every day, and this is...
Words: 913 - Pages: 4
...they carry themselves. In such aspect Updike might represented his personal experience or someone else experience in “A & P,” when Sammy find himself thinking about Queenie’s life style. “All of a sudden I slid right down her voice into her living room. Her father and the other men were standing around in ice cream coats and bow ties and the women were in sandals picking up herring snacks on toothpicks off a big glass plate and they were all holding drinks the color of water with olives and sprigs of mint in them. (193) Sammy in a way envisions her regular life at home in a way I might personally do if I wonder about an individual....
Words: 491 - Pages: 2
...their noses in disgust. The American society has been taught that people must cover themselves to look appropriate, and that has been ingrained into the minds of many Americans. People have different opinions on the subject, but in reality, from the first few days that people have been on the earth, they were taught to cover themselves. In John Updike’s short story, “A & P,” three young girls innocently challenge that belief when they...
Words: 1353 - Pages: 6
...A & P: An Exploration of Theme By Robert Smith English 175-01 Lucas Brown Tuesday/Thursday 1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. 28 September 2016 The main theme of John Updike’s work “A & P” is a coming of age story with an emphasis on a changing world, in which old ways are giving way to a new generation’s way of thinking. There are many elements of this story which add to the theme, including: characters, protagonist’s points of view, setting, and symbolism. The characters play a key role in bring the coming of age theme in the story to life. To open the story we read, “In walks three girls in nothing but bathing suits” (Updike, p. 16). Before the narrator even mentions anything about himself he mentions the “three girls,” this immediately draws...
Words: 1369 - Pages: 6
...“A&P” Character Analysis The protagonist in “A&P” by John Updike is a static character because he reveals himself as a juvenile who remains envious of “his” girls, determined, and judgmental throughout the story. The way Sammy describes his opinion of the girls’ personalities, makes his decision at the end, and how he describes the characters reveals how his character did not change throughout the story. In “A&P” three girls wander into the grocery store while Sammy, the main character is working the cash register. Sammy instantly starts describing each of the girls and it can be assumed that the main girl in the group is his favorite. Sammy refers to her as “Queenie.” While Sammy seems quiet and shy around others, Queenie is the opposite. Sammy’s comment, “but you got the idea she had talked the other two into coming in here with her, and...
Words: 728 - Pages: 3
...In The A&P by John Updike, Sammy discovers the world of conformity that surrounds him and he, through the use of the world he imagines Queenie has—a world of classy parents, summer vacations, and the liberty to neglect the social norms of places like the A&P—makes him crave things outside of his limited life experiences showing that an immature decision can have maturing and long-lasting effect on the future. In the beginning of the story we find Sammy, an ignorant and disaffected teenager working at the A&P- a corporate structure in society, seeming to be pretty happy about his life. One of the things Sammy comes to understand throughout the story of “A&P", however, is how close he is to being initiated into the corporate structure represented...
Words: 571 - Pages: 3
...A&P Story and Character Analysis “…My stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter” (153). Unfortunately, many people can relate to this feeling after making a mistake or unintelligent decision. “A&P”, a short story, by John Updike tells of a brief yet problematic encounter in a local supermarket. The protagonist Sammy works as a cashier at the local A&P just north of Boston. After the incident when his boss embarrassed a group of young girls in the store, he impulsively decides he wants to quit as an act of heroism for the young embarrassed girls. Because he was distracted, he made an irrational decision that affected him and the people around him negatively. In “A&P”, Updike communicates the theme of thinking...
Words: 1130 - Pages: 5
...In the story of "A&P" by John Updike, the main character and narrator, Sammy, demonstrates that he is very observant and judgmental. Sammy could also be described as a critic. Throughout the story Sammy describes the different customers and makes comments about their appearance. Sammy also compares his lifestyle to the lifestyles of his coworkers and customers. Sammy describes the A&P to be located in the middle of town, nowhere near the beach, which confuses him about the girls who come in with their swimsuits on. Sammy also uses imagery to describe the A&P. The store is described by Sammy as a pinball machine, he says he never knows what tunnel the customers will come out of. Throughout the story, Sammy observes and narrates his descriptions of the A&P customers. He describes the housewives as "sheep" because he fails to see any difference between the housewives. The housewives also walk aimlessly down the aisles and just follow each other around in a flock. Sammy also made a statement about...
Words: 536 - Pages: 3
...“A&P,” a short story by John Updike, consists of interlacing conflicts which lead to the single most important conflict in a teenager’s life: not knowing the unknown. These conflicts develop through the use of foreshadowing and flashbacks that lead to the character departure from the A&P. The author uses a first person view of a working teenager, who struggles to escape the social classes and the burdens of expectations from society and his peers as he in order to become more in charge of his life. We learn that Sammy’s personality is less traditional compare to his manager Lengel, when his peers are ridicule for showing skin, or indecent for the time. This one conflict tells him that the A&P is might not be the best for him because it is like a ball and chain. But just by being a teenager, he has not developed the reality that people cannot compare yourself to others, because it might...
Words: 640 - Pages: 3
...Live and Learn First jobs are the first reality check to life. Each with responsibilities, rules and lessons to be learned and mistakes will be made under the watchful eye of an employer. In John Updike’s “A & P,” Sammy is the typical teenager bored with his job. He’s at a small town grocery store that does not get a lot of excitement. He mentally analyzes each customer as he goes through the motions of cashing out each customer. This day will change Sammy’s life and his lack of understanding of it. Sammy notices, “three girls in nothing but bathing suits” (141). The girls move throughout the store creating quite the stir. Eventually the girls make their way to Sammy’s register. The manager, Lengel, approaches the girls, “‘Girl’s this isn’t the...
Words: 474 - Pages: 2
...A&P Analysis This particular story was written by a man named John Updike, in the early 1960s. Updike wrote this story to convey a certain message to the people reading it. That message is that everyone must make their own life choices and decisions at some point, rather than let others make decisions for them. While many people may read the title of this story and believe that the theme revolves around the Anatomy and Physiology of the human body, the actual theme of this story is based on a young boy becoming a man. Throughout the story, the main character who is Sammy, describes to the audience these three girls who have came into the grocery store where he works, and are dressed in bathing suits rather than clothes, which would be frowned upon during this time period. The inferred leader of the group of girls who is Queenie, is the girl that Sammy appears to have his eyes on throughout most of the story. Sammy notices that Queenie is wearing a dirty-pink bathing suit with the straps down to her shoulder, which lets Sammy know that either Queenie is trying to...
Words: 631 - Pages: 3
...An individual’s character can always be tested at any given moment. A prime example would be when a person stands up for what he or she believes in, even if it may hurt him or her in the end. The short story “A&P” by John Updike, shows how a character by the name of Sammy, stands for what he thinks is right. A theme that the reader may take away from this story is that one should always stand up for what is right despite the consequences that may follow. By using the main character of the story, Updike shows how Sammy exemplifies himself through his own actions. In this story, three girls walk into a store wearing only their swimsuits. Sammy’s boss does not like the sight of this and begins calling the girls out. Sammy does not like the way that his boss handles the situation and takes a stand for the girls. By standing up for the girls, Sammy loses his job for doing what was right. Readers can often times relate and feel connected to Sammy. Updike writes this story in first person point-of-view so it looks as if the narrator is Sammy. The reader is then able to see what all is going through Sammy’s mind. Throughout the story, the reader can see what all...
Words: 536 - Pages: 3
...In order for the younger generation to succeed, must they do as they see others do and resist deviating from the norm? The short story “A&P” by John Updike takes place within a grocery store with plots depicting different themes, such as innocence and irony. The average reader will be stunned by the unusual break in tradition, as well as the ending with a twist. Sammy, the story’s main character and narrator, is represented as one who does not understand his own troubled life. He also despises others, who in so many words live a life of follow the leader. Ultimately, Sammy quits his job in protest of the unfair treatment of three girls, who have presumably violated the store’s dress code policy. It appears that this is an example where society is being too rigid and insensitive to the changing trends that our younger generations are ready to explore. Three young girls wearing bathing suits into a small town grocery store really caused a commotion amongst the store’s...
Words: 1168 - Pages: 5
...A&P In John Updike’s short story “A&P,” the characters, especially the narrator, display the theme of “growing up” through their reckless behavior. The desire for this youthfulness and individuality is a major aspect of the transition out of youth and into adulthood. From the time three girls walked into the town’s, small-scale grocery store, the A&P, a young, grocery clerk’s life and view on his youth was from that point changed. Day to day, as a grocery clerk, Sammy would observe the locals as they passed in and out of the store. When a new, and unusual sighting of three, scandalous, teenage girls appeared, Sammy found himself infatuated with their presence. It was a refreshing sight from the usual, mundane crowd that he is accustomed to. He is first drawn to their appearance. They were all in their bathing suits, one even with her straps...
Words: 876 - Pages: 4
