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The rules of employment for any job play an important role for anyone, but Sammy decided to ignore the rules he thought was pointless in hopes of the girls not thinking he was a square for enforcing the store policy. Because of the three girls walking in wearing nothing but bathing suits, instead of him telling them to cover-up or leave, he says to himself," the one that caught my eye first was the one in the plaid green two-piece. She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-dash looking can with those two crescents of white just under it." He shows his disregard for the establishment he is working for by ignoring customers in his line due to erotic thoughts of the young women in bathing suits. Other than being attentive to the task at hand, he ends up scanning " the no eyebrow witch's HiHo crackers twice." Also in Sammy's immature ideas he says, " women generally put on a shirt, shorts, or something before they get out of the car, but these women usually have six children and varicose veins." Sammy himself chooses whom the rules should or should not apply to when in all actuality the rules should be administered to every customer.…
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The readers are to view Sammy as a typical teenager: indifferent to those around him (except to queenie) and yet, markedly self-conscious. He proves to be an observant narrator, allowing the reader farther inspection into our protagonist. We see Sammy drink in the details of the three girls; he pays close attention to the textures of their suits, their facial features, and tan lines. However, Sammy goes beyond what he physically observes and attempts to glean what their lives are like outside of A&P. What he sees, is attractive and his appetite for association has a distinct influence over his future decisions. This is drives his observations to become detrimentally tunnelled. As Sammy dismisses A&P customers and co-workers and quits, he is…
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Sammy is bored, with life as a checker at the A & P. He despises the men and women in the grocery store, referring to housewives as "sheep pushing their carts down the aisle" and laborers as "freeloaders". (Kirszner & Mandell, 126). He refers…
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The author, John Updike, uses characterization to expose Sammy’s true character. Sammy is baffled that the store manager, Lengel, would embarrass the girls in front of everyone. In their defense he stands up to Lengel and scolds him for rebuking the girl’s outfit choices. After the girls leave he then quits his job. When he quits the manager even warns him that “[he’ll] feel this for the rest of [his] life”, but Sammy follows through with his plan. Although he does…
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A very noticeable similarity is the fact that both young men are dissatisfied with their authority figures. In the beginning of the stories, one will see that Sammy and Sarty are not like their main influences. Each young man has a mature understanding of their unfortunate lives and how they must break the mold to better themselves. Stokesie, Sammy’s friend and co-worker, is twenty two years old and married with two kids. His biggest dream is to become a manager of the A&P someday. Sammy describes Stokesie’s life as a perfect example of his future if he continues working at the A&P. To him the A&P is a dead end job; but in the eyes of his Lengel and his family it is an acceptable future. Lengel is the manager of A&P as well as the town’s preacher. He plays an important role as Sammy’s authority figure. When Sammy quits, Lengel tries to persuade him to stay and makes it very clear that leaving the A&P will be a huge mistake. This is an excellent reflection of Sammy’s authority figure and the close minded ways he must escape.…
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As he watched the girls, he accidentally rings up a customer’s box of HiHo crackers twice in a row, causing the customer to become incredibly agitated that he is not giving her his full attention. Sammy hardly pays any mind to the woman’s agitation and watches the girls idle into the meat isle. It was made perfectly clear at this point that his primary concern is no longer his job, but the girls in the store.…
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The text makes it obvious that Sammy does not hold very much respect according to society. Sammy makes a common mistake by ringing in a woman’s groceries twice and receives hell in doing so. If the woman felt she and Sammy were equals she most likely would have treated him differently and shown more respect. Stokesie and Sammy seem to have a good rapport. Sammy states that he and Stokesie are very similar to one another and it seems like they are able to joke with each other often. Later, when Sammy confronts Lengel and quits Lengel gives the impression he is looking out for Sammy since he is friends with his parents and does not think he will actually follow through with quitting. The girls do not think anything of Sammy. They pay very little attention to him while in the store and leave without a word after he quits. To them he was just another cashier.…
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Sammy is working at low-end job during the summer to make his parents happy and earn some extra cash. He notices that his co-worker, Stokesie, is already married with kids at the age of 22 with small plans of becoming manager some day. This job isn’t the most exciting thing in the world, and Sammy probably doesn’t have plans to work there his whole life like Stokesie, so he isn’t very enthusiastic when he describes his job. Sammy’s epiphany comes to him as he watches the girls get humiliated by a middle-aged man and just before he utters his resignation. He does not quit solely to stand up for the girls and present himself as a hero. At that moment he realizes just how ridiculous his whole situation is because he doesn’t belong there. He does not belong in a store with a 22 year old with very little ambitions, or with a manager who teaches sunday school, and thinks that girls in bathing suits should go to hell instead of enter his store. He even refers to himself as an “unsuspected hero” and says, “and my stomach kind of fell as i felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter.” He’s finally free and understands the struggles that will come from not living his life…
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In John Updikes’ short story, A&P Sammy's character as described by the narrator, comes off as immature. The way Sammy is very observant and judgmental towards the three girls reveals something much deeper. It seems as if Sammy is very unhappy at his dead end job, he feels stuck. The narrator makes it seem as if Sammy wants something more from life. He obviously doesn't care about his job. He quits to impress the girls, only to be left alone in the end. I think Sammy is trying to prove something to the girls and everyone else around him. It seems he sort of envy’s the girl’s lives, especially ‘Queenie.’ When he stands up for the girls he is searching for some sort of satisfaction, to be held at the same level of the girls. When he stands…
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Sammy meets the need of one’s standards that may be classified as a normal and average teenage boy. He works, is easily distracted, and has a keen interest in girls. With Sammy’s vernacular and his actions he comes off as awkward by the time the story ends. He describes the girls the best way he knows how but uses a lot of similes and metaphors instead of just stating what one of their skin looks likes or what her body looks like. And when he describes the shoppers he makes them seem like they are suffering from oppression. As if they are they because they have to be just like he is there because he has no choice. And when something goes wrong or something out of the ordinary happens, like him quitting, they seem lost at what to do next. Just like the customers/shoppers when Sammy said “I quit”, he was not expecting it and was lost himself. And because he decided to quit out of nowhere to be an uncertified hero for these girls that he may possibly never see again, he knows he more than likely cannot…
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Quitting his job is his first step in achieving this goal. Although he knows that he is young, entering into the realism of adult responsibilities will widen his mind to explore and experience more. Quitting his job isn’t an optimal idea, Sammy’s motive runs much deeper than that. He is questioning for a sense of personal gain and satisfaction. By taking sides with the girls, he momentarily rises in class to meet their standards and the standards of the upper-class. Sammy is obviously near the bottom of the class ladder, a place where he is extremely unhappy. He wants the courage to set himself apart from everyone especially Lengel and be different.…
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While Sammy's limited perspective might make him unreliable, it also shows some major growth on his part. It also shows us that he is willing to think and act differently than the people around him. We think the fact that Sammy's point of view changes over the course of the story is more important than him just being a narrator. At the beginning of the story he is simply whining and complaining in his mind. By the girls wearing their bathing suits into the store and showing Sammy how you can be different helps him stand up for himself. Sammy follows by removing his A&P bow tie and apron when he quits, expressing unity with the girls and using his clothing, like them, as a form of symbol. Over the course of the story, he…
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Summarize the information Sammy gives readers about his tastes and background. Why is the exposition vital to the story's development?…
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The main character, Sammy of “The A&P,” struggles with choosing between the decision to stand up for what he deems morally appropriate, or the option to ignore the mistreatment of three strangers. Unsure of the consequences, this supermarket hero risks his job for the trio of young ladies whom he had never come in contact with before. His irksome attitude toward the customers displays the true feelings he holds for his grocery store career. “I pull the bow at the back of my apron and start shrugging it off my shoulders. A couple customers that had been heading for my slot begin to knock…
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In “A & P,” Sammy is this non-wealthy, normal guy who works in a grocery store. During this time, in 1961 there was a change occurring that involved ethics and morality. Also, money was something that became a luxury, and it became something you had to have in order to be approved in society when it came to different classes: upper-middle class and high class. One day when Sammy was working, a set of girls came into the store dressed in bikinis. One of the girls had her nose turned up, and that gave an automatic reaction to those around her as to how her attitude was. After being in the store for a while, the girls start to get harassed because of how they were dressed. Sammy did not like it that much because he thought the girls deserved a lot more respect than what they were receiving. The more aggravated he got, the more he…
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