“A&P’ by John Updike, tells of an important event in the life of Sammy, a nineteen-year-old grocery store checker. One summer day, three girls wearing only their bathing suits, walk into the store looking to purchase herring. Sammy is very intrigued by the girls, especially the one he refers to as “Queenie.’ The store manager, Lengel, sees that the girls are improperly dressed and instructs them to be more suitably clothed the next time they come in. This embarrasses the girls. Repulsed by Lengel’s actions, Sammy quits, hoping that the girls will stop and he will be their unsuspected hero, but they keep on walking. Lengel acknowledges Sammy’s compliance and gives him a chance to change his mind, but Sammy feels “that once you begin a gesture it is fatal not to go through with it.’ As he is walking outside, it is then that he realizes “how hard the world was going to be to me (him) hereafter.’ Updike suggests that the impulsive decisions people make, especially when they are young and immature, can lead to maturity.
The story deals with the loss of innocence and the coming of age in a young mind. Sammy is your typical na ve teenager. He acts on impulse and not thought. He is a young man with ambition who does not want to end up like Stokesie, another cashier, whom at three years older than Sammy is “married and with two babies hoping to be manager some sunny day.’ The conflict between Sammy and Stokesie represents the life, which Sammy wants to avoid. He aspires more out of life than representing the low-working class, which caves into society’s demands and obeys its authorities.
The Essay on Supermarket Standoff Sammy Girls Lengel
... that Lengel has embarrassed the girls in front of the whole store and ruined one of the greatest moments in his life. Sammy reacts ... the consequences. Sammy rebels against rules and authority. He is at an age in his young teenage life, where his life is changing, ... Supermarket Standoff As a young narrow-minded teenager working in a small New England town supermarket, Sammy has many dramatic issues ...
He realizes that he does not want to be stuck in a dead end job. Being that Sammy is truly innocent, his attempt to change occurs when he realizes that he is stuck living a life that he is not satisfied with. The internal conflict revolves around the struggle of Sammy. He is torn between He feels his middle-class upbringing is inferior to the privileged lifestyle he imagines of “Queenie.’ Daydreaming about her choice of herring snacks, Sammy imagines that at her family gatherings the women are nicely dressed, picking their herring off a “big glass plate,’ while they are drinking drinks “the color of water with olives and sprigs of mint,’ while at his house they drink lemonade and cheap beer out of cartoon cups.
