As Sammy suddenly abandons his job, his manager warns him "Sammy, you don't want to do this to your mom and dad" (Updike 347). Just as Dave is indebted to the land, it appears that Sammy owes something to the family friend who manages the A&P, Lengel. As the story progresses, this manager becomes the undeserving target of Sammy's immature emotions of anger. He is trapped, like Dave, in a monotonous daily routine and is governed by adults as he himself approaches that stage in his life.
The idea of a gun for Dave is more of a ridiculous obsession with manhood than a desire for the gun itself. He is determined that "one of these days he was going to get a gun and practice shooting, then they couldn't talk to him as though he were a little boy." (Wright 275) Proof in itself that he has not yet matured, Dave truly believes that simply owning a tool of such power will suddenly and unarguably turn him into a man: "Ain nothing wrong, Ma. Ahm almos a man now. I wans a gun" (Wright 278). However ludicrous and unhealthy this obsession may seem, what more could be expected from a young man in such a dire situation? In his surroundings there is virtually no way he can grow up and develop self respect and the respect of others. Dave does not really want the gun; he simply has the natural desire for respect and manhood that he believes is entailed with ownership. This is the only feasible solution that his environment can have him imagine. Besides, when all is taken into account, it is his desire for the weapon that drives him out of town; his only chance to become a man.
Sammy's obsession varies slightly from that of Dave's; just as Dave has a love for the gun, Sammy has a love for three mysterious girls. As a clerk in A&P, Sammy notices something very unusual in the store. As three young women walk into the store with no more than bathing suits on, Sammy is awestruck. As he observes them from a distance, he ponders about how great it would be to go outside instead of being stuck in the store.