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Heroism In John Updike's A + P

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Heroism In John Updike's A + P
Updike wrote a story called "A+P". In this story there is a very complex character, his name is Sammy. This story was written in 1961. It is currently the year of 2015, and people are still debating whether Sammy is a heroic character or not. I believe that Sammy is a heroic character because he stands up for the girls, he stands up against Lengel, and cares for the girls.

Sammy stood up for the three girls that Lengel threw out of the A+P. After Lengel told the girls to leave, Sammy could have sat down and kept his mouth shut, but he said "You didn't have to embarrass them," (Updike). This then escalated into an argument between Sammy and Lengel which caused Sammy to quit his job because Lengel disrespected the girls. Now answer me this, why would Sammy quit his job if he wasn't standing up for the girls and being heroic? Sammy is considered heroic not only because he stood up for the girls, but also because he stood up against Lengel.

In 1961 it was very uncommon for a
…show more content…
They believe that Sammy isn't heroic,which they do have one very strong point. Those people say that because the way Sammy treats the customers and the girls restrains him from being a hero. I disagree with this point. Even though Sammy did treat others in the story wrong, he changed his ways, he began to treat everyone right towards the end of the story. No one is perfect, we all make mistakes. We may judge people, but that doesn't make us evil or not heroic.

Sammy is a very complex character in Updike's "A+P". Many people, including myself, believe that Sammy is heroic character. He his heroic because he stood up for the girls, he stood up against Lengel, and he cared enough for those girls to lose his job for them. Even though Sammy did treat those people badly in the beginning of the story, he changed his ways for the better. Sammy is a heroic character, just because he judged people, that doesn't mean he is the worst man on the

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