Cole Gugino
Analysis: A&P
After reading the short story A&P I came to the conclusion, that the author wanted to portray the typical teenage boy. Sammy the narrator in the story shows his immaturity throughout the story especially when a group of girls walk in the grocery store only wearing their swimming suits. Sammy who is extremely juvenile and kind of creepy observes every detail of the girls, especially one girl in particular he nicknamed Queenie. For example, he notices Queenie’s bra straps dangling in a sensual way from which he fantasies about her inner self. Sammy continues his immature behavior when he disregarders customers in effort to impress the girls creating the illusion he is a bad boy. Sammy then tries to socialize with the girls by pointing out that the A&P is in the middle of the town and know where near the beach.
Then Lengel, the store manager at the A&P, ridicules the girls for wearing their scantily bathing suits in the grocery store. In a last ditch effort to impress the lady’s Sammy tells his boss that he quits because of the way he treated the girls, try’s to saying it loud enough for the girls to hear him with no avail. After the girls leave Lengel tries to persuade Sammy not to quit in fear he will bring upon disappointment from his parents. Sammy the strong willed teenager he is says, “It seems to me that once you begin a gesture it’s fatal not to go through with it”. Rather than thinking with his head Sammy is thinking with something else and not factoring in the consequence his actions. Sammy’s immaturity really shines through, throughout the story as he tries to court Queenie. I believe the author paints an accurate picture of the typical teenage boy that is trying to impress the opposite sex by acting like a rebellious bad