A Life Discovery in "A&P"

In "A&P", John Updike uses the main character, Sammy, to tell his story of a normal day at work in which he discovers some things about himself and life. Sammy is a normal, small town teenager. He has an active imagination as shown by his descriptions of people and the events that go on in the store. At one point, he refers to the store as a pinball machine. He also judges people based on their appearances which is quite common for a young person to do. He seems to be dependent on his parents because he speaks of his mother ironing his shirt and gives the impression that they may have aided him in getting the job at the grocery store.

The story was published in 1961 which is about the time that the younger generation was beginning to go against the flow of society's moral standards. They had more liberal ideas of what was socially acceptable. Sammy views the people in his store as "sheep" because they wander blindly up and down the aisles, checking items from their lists. This also relates to his view of society as a whole at the time. In his eyes, everyone is conforming to traditional rules, just following the leader. One will not dare to step outside the boundaries or they will face judgmental scorn from others. Mr. Lengel, the store manager, reiterates the conformity of this time when he tells the girls "We want you decently dressed when you come in here"(Updike 326).

The mundane setting of the grocery store makes the girls' attire stand out, and throws some of the customers into a fit:

The sheep pushing their carts down the aisle- the girls were walking against the

usual traffic (not that we have one-way signs or anything) - were pretty hilarious.

You could see them, when Queenie's white shoulders dawned on them, kind of

jerk, or hop, or hiccup, but their eyes snapped back to their own baskets and on

they pushed (Updike 325).

The three girls represent the younger generation that is not afraid to rebel against traditional values and do things their own way, without fearing backlash. Sammy is obviously attracted to the physical qualities of the girls as any young man would be, but he also sees their free spirits. When the manager embarrasses them, Sammy says "I quit"(Updike 327) to Lengel. He makes a rash decision hoping that the girls hear him and he becomes "their unsuspected hero"(Updike 327). The girls care less and keep walking out the door. It does not occur to Sammy that his life is about to change drastically when he tells Mr. Lengel that he quit. Only when Mr. Lengel asks Sammy if he said something, is he forced to think about it. It is then that Sammy makes the discovery that he does not want to become a "sheep" in society. He chooses to stand up for what he thinks is right. He hesitates for a moment and then decides, "Once you begin a gesture it's fatal not to go through with it" (Updike 327). When he says this, he knows that changing his mind would make him appear weak.

Sammy does not want to be stuck in his mundane job for the rest of his life either. He looks at Stokesie and compares himself saying, "Stokesie's married, with two babies chalked up on his fuselage already, but as far as I can tell that's the only difference"(Updike 325). Stokesie has hopes of becoming manager at the store one day, and Sammy does not want to follow in those footsteps.

Taking his apron and bowtie off and leaving them at the A&P grocery is symbolic of Sammy's transition into adulthood and also leaving the world of the "sheep." As soon as Sammy steps outside, the realization of his actions become clear to him. The girls are gone, and he sees a woman fussing at her children next to a station wagon. He then realizes that life is not always going to be so carefree. Looking back inside the store he says, "My stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter"(Updike 327).

Updike, John. "A&P." Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts

and Henry E. Jacobs. 8^th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. 324-327.