From Childhood to Adulthood in Updike's A&P Essay

She was the queen with "long white prima-donna legs." Completely distracted by the girls, Sammy rings a box of HiHo crackers twice, infuriating the customer. He describes her as being " One of these cash-register-watchers, a witch of about fifty with rouge on her cheekbones and no eyebrows, and I know it made her day to trip me up," sarcastically conveying his chauvinistic attitude toward women.

Sammy just doesn't judge them on their appearance, but also in their personalities. Sammy was checking out items and sees one of the girls coming towards him, the one he

Try and remember what it was like to be a teenager. The short story “A&P” tells the coming of age story of a nineteen year old boy named Sammy. Sammy has unknowingly placed himself into a situation that many small town adolescents often fall victim to. Sammy has a dead end job, and he feels as though he will be stuck working at the local “A&P” while life passes him by. This is until a chance encounter with three young female customers changes his course from mini vans and diapers to a welcomed new and uncertain future. After a close examination of the text, Sammy doesn’t quit his job because of the girls, he quits knowing that a dead end job is not what he is meant for.

Originally when the girls come into the store Sammy thought the three girls were ignorant and foolish. This is seen from his lack of understanding of women “You never know for sure how girls’ minds work” (Updike 1) When Sammy says this he reveals what he really thinks of women. This not only shows he does not understand women but also how he assumes without previous knowledge that these three girls were ignorant. Sammy assumes they are ignorant because they do not see things the same way or do not see eye to eye. Sammy shows more of this when he says “Poor kids, I began to feel sorry for them, they couldn’t help it” (Updike 2). Sammy assumes that just because they are girls that they lack intelligence that men possess. He thinks that the girls should be afraid or fearful for trying to stand up for their cause. Sammy also does not view the girls as beings but rather objects. As in the story Sammy says “It is alright for those young girls to walk around in their bathing suits, but other women with six children and varicose veins, should put on some clothes.” (Updike 3) Based on this we can conclude that Sammy is not as interested in the

Sammy’s fervor for these young females heightened as they passed by him time and time again as he stood idly at his register. He even speculated as to which aisle the young girls would pop up in next. Sammy states, “The whole store was like a pinball machine and I didn’t know which tunnel they’d come out of” (Updike 371). Sammy’s feelings of passion are mixed with rebellion as he witnesses his manager rebuking the young women for entering his Puritan domain in their sinful attire. Sammy is under

Sammy’s actions and thoughts in the store reveal the type of person he is. His judgment and immaturity

Have you ever made a poor decision in “the heat of the moment”? Afterwards did you have a realization that your sacrifice was not worth it? The protagonist, Sammy, of the short story “A & P” by John Updike does these exact things. Sammy is a teenager, only 18 years old (Going on 19 in April). He has a job as a cashier, likely given to him by a friend of the family, Lengel, who also happens to be his boss. Sammy is still very immature, and has worldviews that show it. He has just become an adult, and is still trying to figure out how the real world works. In “A & P”, Sammy undergoes his first big decision of his adult life, and matures as a result of it.

Sammy from “A&P” was originally distracted when three girls came into the store he worked at. Sammy was in the middle of checking out the “cash-register-watcher” and did not want anything to do with the girls, but as soon as his co-workers started add specifics about what happened the girls Sammy stands up for the girls by quitting his job. He observed the girls and thought; he really examined the “queen” she in a way set an example for how they should act. When Sammy’s manager Lengal comes in he says, “Girls, this isn’t the beach,”(21). He continued to repeat this as if he thought it was a funny joke. He was taking pleasure in correcting them and telling them that they were not dressed appropriately to be in the store, but at the beach. One of the girls spoke up

As the story continues, Sammy curiously watches the provocative young ladies as they stroll through the store looking for groceries. In this fictional story, Sammy describes all three noticeable ladies, the main girl, "Queenie" he describes her as the leader of the two other girls. The second young lady he described was the

Despite all of his behaviors that seem to contradict this in the story, Sammy is actually a person that wants to be more than the small, rigid town he was raised in and is rather driven in his own way. The scene on page 166 most readily exemplifies this hidden characteristic of Sammy. When he hears Queenie’s voice, Sammy is initially shocked, as he thought her voice would be different, before he “...slid down her voice into her living room” (166). Sammy imagines an upscale party in Queenie’s house, complete with ornately dressed people and expensive refreshments. He then compares this to his own home life, saying that cheap beer is considered “…a real racy affair…” where he lives (166). By choosing the girls over his job, Sammy is symbolically choosing what kind of person he wants to be and what kind of life he wishes to lead in the

The story begins with the girls walking in the store, and they already caught Sammy’s eyes. It shows that Sammy already has feelings for them at first sight. On page 5, lines 4-5 and 9-12, the author states, “The one that caught my eye first was the one in the plaid green two-piece… I stood there with my hand on a box of HiHo crackers, trying to remember if I rang it up or not. I ring it up again and the customer starts giving me hell.” This quote states that Sammy is looking at one of the girls and isn’t paying attention to his job.

Through Sammy’s actions and words, this makes him a highly immature person. When the three girls first walk into the store, Sammy points out the girl in the green two-piece. Sammy states that

Sammy is a nineteen-year-old cashier at an A&P grocery store. During the years of 1960’s being conservative was a must. Sammy is guilty of judging and making a bias assumption of three girls who are dressed inappropriately, and patrons around him in general. Sammy begins to place names

He starts out dismissing the group of girls as thoughtless creatures ¨a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar” (Updike, p.16). Shortly after, the girls begin to represent freedom by their lack of regard to other people watching them. Sammy even says, “She must have felt in the corner of her eye me and over my shoulder Stokesie in the second slot watching, but she didn't tip.” (Updike, p.16) The girls were like fish out of water, liberal and seemingly carefree, which was refreshing to see among the crowd of ¨house slaves¨ and

    “Sammy this doesn’t concern you I will deal with you in a minute. Now back to what I was saying ladies next time you come in the store just cover up a little more.” stated the store manager. Jenn and I were watching through the window while putting the groceries in the trunk. We saw the store manager confront the girls, and they were not too happy about it. The store manager then confronted Sammy about taking forever to check us out. Sammy began to catch an attitude with the store manager. Sammy caught a glimpse of the girls walking out of the store and followed them.