The story “A & P” by John Updike is a tale of a young man who lets his desires and his anger get a little too far ahead of him and in the end winds up quitting his job. In a matter of a day, Updike goes from an immature boy with unrealistic ideas and fantasies, to a man who is about to realize how life altering the choices he makes can be. Because of a decision by the self-righteous manager to banish three scantily clad girls from the store, Sammy, in one grand gesture, resigns. Updike used Sammy to reject the ugliness of the A & P. But with humor and irony, Updike shows the dangers of idealism. Though his family is not present in the story, Sammy realizes he will have to account to them for his behavior. Also, the girls trigger an action that is irreversible, leaving Sammy with the painful knowledge of “how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter.”
First, Sammy interprets the customers as being old, dul
It is evident that the character of Sammy is developed through his personal interpretation of the setting around him. As Updike uses the characters to build the setting, Sammy begins to respond to their behaviors. Through the characters, Sammy sees pieces of his own personality reflected through their actions. He begins to see the contrast between what he sees in himself and who he wants to become. So, in the story, Sammy makes the decision to play the hero. And to do so, he has to announce that he quits his job. His foolish notion of playing the hero to a girl who doesn’t even know he exists, cast him into manhood with the reality of the life altering consequences he is about to face.
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