In John Updike’s “A&P”, standing up for what he believed was right was all it took for Sammy to become an adult. As Sammy rang up the purchases of the everyday “sheep” (79) and “house-slaves” (79), he notices the “three girls in nothing but bathing suits” (77) that had come in. Like most hormonal, teenage boys would, he watched the pretty girls as they walked throughout the store, especially “Queenie” (79), who appeared to be the leader of the girls. He began to feel bad for them though when he realized his male coworkers were also “sizing up their joints” (79). After all, “they couldn’t help it” (79).
At the end of “A & P” Sammy show’s his frustration on how the girl’s in the store had been treated by his manager Lengel that he quits in order to stand up for what he believed in. When Lengel comes to Sammy’s register to say to the girls, “Girls, this isn’t the beach” (19) and then later on say the same thing and belittle the girls that way. While Sammy was bagging up the girls groceries he’s thinking about what he is going to do; “pass a half and a penny into her narrow pink palm, and nestle the herrings in a bag and twist its neck and hand it over, all the time thinking” (19). After Sammy has ended the transaction his decision on what he is going to do has been made. As the girls leave the store in a hurry Sammy says to Lengel “I quit”.
It is common knowledge that it is inappropriate to walk through a public place like a grocery store with just a bathing suit. That is where the saying “no shirt, no shoes, no service” comes from. Lengel goes on to say “Girls, I don’t want to argue with you. After this come in here with your shoulders covered. It’s our policy.” As a manager Lengal handled the situation appropriately, but Sammy
Character can be defined as the combination of qualities or features that distinguishes one person, group, or thing from another. Sammy starts off as a young man who is discontent with his ordinary life checking customers out at the grocery store in a sleepy small town. As a teenager Sammy feels the need to change his way of life. Sammy is a 19 years old boy who seems to be working hard to help his parents put food on the table. You can tell in the beginning of the story when the line “In walks three girls in nothing but bathing suits”.
One learning experience of life is explored in this short story called, “A&P”. In his short story “A&P”, John Updike explores how the main character immaturity and irresponsibility lead him to learn the reality of life. Sammy, the main character, without thinking quits his job and got the idea that he’s doing this for a good reason specifically to get attention from the girls. He defended them by quitting because his manager said that the girls can’t be in bathing suits in the store that he’s working in. Then after he quit he realized that he made a mistake after the girls didn’t acknowledge him defending them.
The pace before he steals the pie is very fast, making the reader wonder if Soto was caught or not. When later succeeding in slipping pass the clerk with a pie hidden behind his coffee lid Frisbee he runs down the street. Soto assures himself that “no one saw” and he feels as is a burden was taken of his shoulders. He feels assured and sits on somebody’s lawn ready to delve into his forbidden pie. Until a neighbor comes out of the house looking for his mail, that’s when Soto runs off with his pie somewhere else.
In the story A&P, Updike is trying to make a point to never judge a book by its cover. Even though the young girls; Queenie, Plaid and Big Tall Goony-Gooney came into the grocery store with nothing but their bathing suits on and bare feet; doesn’t mean they were looking for trouble. All they wanted was to buy herring for Queenies mother. Readings between the lines of a characters point of view can be easy but can also be challenging. I chose Sammy from A&P because he was someone I could relate to in a sense of working behind the counter and watching other costumers.
The pie A critical life is to not steal from others because it is an unethical action. Usually the aftermath of stealing results in feelings of guiltiness, regret, and abashment. The autobiography A Summer Life by Gary Soto is about Soto’s childhood experiences in the 1960’s. In the particular vignette, “The Pie”, Soto’s childhood self steals a pie from the market and is instantly hit with sensation of shamefulness. In “The Pie”, Soto uses religious allusions and tone to revive the theme of guilt, regret, and nervousness that he felt as a six-year-old boy stealing a pie.
Kids pushed one another down just to throw away their paper towels first, they splashed water in each others faces in a frantic attempt to ward off others. Personally, I did not see the appeal of storytime but being a young boy all that mattered was the chair. I saw one of my fellow sunday school friends dash for the trash like the rest, however having the grace with an elephant on
Olivia Mendoza English Composition II Professor Chism 21 January 2015 A & P Boldness can be a productive or a contrary thing. As for Sammy’s case, being bold was a contrary. Sammy was a nineteen-year-old boy who seemed to have life a little dull. He didn’t exactly seem to have life figured out. In the beginning of the story, the protagonist (Sammy) was at his cashier as usual when the antagonists (the Queenie and the girls) walk into A & P grocery store in their bathing suits and changed Sammy’s life forever.