At the conflict of the story, Sammy stands up for his beliefs when he quits his job. The major external conflict is between Sammy and Lengel. Sammy believes there is a need to protest against Lengel because he embarrassed the girls. Although he may have done it for the wrong reasons like recognition for his courageous act by the girls, he still carries out the bold act of “[folding] the apron, ‘Sammy’ stitched in red on the pocket, and [putting] it on the counter, and [dropping] the bow tie on top of it” (Updike 23). Lengel also symbolizes “the man” or the system.
He soon finds out that they live in the now and do not follow any set path whenever they walk into the store wearing nothing but bathing suits. These actions are not only in direct violation of the store’s policy but also what society believes to be right. When Sammy’s manager embarrasses his “girls” he feels that if someone has simply chosen not to conform, they should not be publicly embarrassed like they were by the manager at the super market. Sammy’s struggle with authority and conformity ultimately led to him quitting his job at the supermarket. He chose to no longer be a part of something that discouraged uniqueness.
Throughout John Updike`s short story "A & P" the protagonist Sammy, a young 19 year old male, is constantly judging the cliental who walks into the grocery store, A& P. For example, when three girls walk into the store with nothing but their bathing suits; Sammy’s mind begins to be very active when he is judging the girls. As Sammy watched Quennie “buzz” over to her friends, it made his stomach (and who knows what else) rubs the inside of his apron (Updike 2). Sammy also observed the women in the store turn away when they noticed the girls almost as if they knew what would happen and were ashamed for young girls (Updike 2). At which point, Sammy views all the older, less attractive shoppers as “sheep” pushing their carts around in a herd, or as “house slaves in pin curlers” (Updike 2). Through the choice of words by the author in these references from the book, the reader is led to believe that women were generally portrayed as passive individuals, known to stay at home, cook for their husbands and care for the children while the men were active at work.
Ashley Green Kim Wolterbeek English 1B 01/30/15 Social Expectations In John Updike’s short story “A&P,” Sammy is a nineteen-year-old checkout clerk at an A&P store. The story starts when three girls in bathing suits enter the store and cause a commotion. The girls are watched intently by the other customers and upon checkout are confronted by Lengel, the store manager. Sammy welcomes the presence of the girls while Stokesie, another check clerk and Lengel are in shock. Sammy quits his job in protest to the girls’ treatment.
When the Queenie takes out the money “out of the hollow at the center of her nibbled pink top” (Updike, P136) Sammy thinks it is cute but actually, it is a kind of rude to not wear like that in the store. Sammy was on the right track even he does not like it. He did not suppose to do anything when his boss blames the girls. But he falls into a desire---being a hero in front of them. This desire leads him to make a hasty decision without careful considerations---to quit his job.
Web. 20 Sep. 2012. This article describes the dull and monotonous atmosphere that Sammy portrays before three girls clad in bathing suits walk in, in John Updike’s “A&P”. This short story takes place in a grocery store named “A&P”, which employs 19-year-old Sammy. The person behind this article, M. Gilbert Porter states, “Sammy reveals through his descriptions of the store and its customers that implicit set of values which will ultimately set him against community mores.” Sammy describes the customers in a droning matter and how repulsed he is by their dullness and impassive character of their existence.
Emily Nguyen Mrs. DiTallo L.A. per 5 5 April 2012 A&P Cause and Effect Essay The interesting short story “A&P” by John Updike is about a teenage boy named Sammy. The story starts, when three girls come in the store in only their bathing suits and Sammy notices them. Sammy then he starts to analyze them until they came to checkout their item until Lengel, the manager, starts an argument with the girls. Sammy, for a strange reason defended them and finally quit and going out to the parking lot to find the girls, which is nowhere to found. In “A&P”, the circumstantial causes intertwine with Sammy’s “choice” causes to create effects which speak directly to the story’s theme.
Name Changed Life In the “A&P” 19 year old Sammy who is a story all by himself is changed by three girls who enter his life as they walk in to shop at the local “A&P”. In which later on he decides to quit his job for these girls as a cashier at the local grocery store called the “A&P.” Realizing that he has made the decision to quit not only for himself, but the girls who inspired him not literally but figuratively quit to make what he seemed the right choice. In this short story, Sammy seems to have mixed opinions about these three girls who walk in. He sizes them up almost as they were all close friends and have known each other for years. Throughout the story, Sammy seems to become attached to these girls.
Soon after her fathers death Emily starts to date a much younger man who is in town to work on the sidewalks. His name is Homer Barron, and he is known to enjoy the company of men, but is not the marrying kind. The town is totally against the affair and tries to bring in Emily’s cousins to put an end to their relationship. Next, the story tells how Emily is finally seen outside her home buying rat poison. The town’s people think she is going to kill herself because Homer had put an end to their relationship.
A&P was a little different read than the usual short stories because it didn’t talk about someone’s life or series of event, instead it talks about how one small mistake leads to downfall of a young boy’s life. Sammy who is a young boy as a cashier working at a neighborhood grocery store with Stokesie, his partner also as a cashier, finds himself in a position one day when he feels the urge of speaking up about something that he thinks is wrong but little did he know that his words and sudden action will only put him down and become a regret forever. While working on a regular sunny day Sammy notices that three girls had walked in to his store in bathing suits. The whole store pays attention to them including Sammy’s manager and his work partner but his manager notices that Sammy is showing a little too much interest in them. So, he walks up to them and tells them that next time they decide to walk in they should cover their shoulders meaning be in appropriate attire but Sammy with a young mind thinks differently and thinks that anyone should be able to shop how ever they want in whatever attire.