Initiation In John Updike's A & P

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Gray 1 Jacob Gray Professor Copeland English 102 (3pm class) 9/18/12 The Use of Initiation in A&P As men we all experience a desire to impress or catch the eye of that one significant other. In Updike's short story, “A&P”, temptation and desire consume Sammy; once he lays his eyes on the young woman that arrives at his store. But, out of the three girls there was one in particular which caught his attention. Is it at that moment Sammy experiences his initiation into adulthood, or, is it just lust running through the mind of your average nineteen year old? Either way, it's not everyday one has the opportunity to get the girl of his dreams, or at least in Sammy's case make a good impression. It was just another routine day…show more content…
That takes guts. That is when Sammy's initiation into adulthood becomes apparent. Though some may think that you shouldn't make such brass decisions based solely off the intention of impressing anyone else, instead Sammy holds his ground in being affirmative of his decision that Lengel blatantly embarrassed those women. Unaware that the women had already sped out the sliding doors, Sammy “[hoped the women] had stop to watch [him], their unsuspected hero” (Updike 195), stand up for them. Though the women were unaware of what Sammy had done. His actions were noble and this was also a focal point in the development of the character's growth. Sammy desire to quit his job runs more deeper than that of being the “unsuspected hero” of those women. Yes he did admire the beauty of Queenie, but at the same time its possible to assume that he wanted her lifestyle: 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 plate and they were all holding drinks the color of water with olives and sprigs of mint in them. When my parents have somebody over they get lemonade and if it's a real racy affair Schlitz in tall glasses with "They'll…show more content…
The utter disappointment was easily distinguished in how he really felt when he didn't find what he was looking for. Among other things the feeling that Sammy felt can be shared among countless other men in this world. Updike's character felt abandoned, “my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter”. (Updike 196) That was the day Sammy realized that he couldn't get what he wanted, the day he came to grip with reality and grew

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