A & P by John Updike
The short story, A&P, by John Updike, is about a young mans struggle with morality, authority, and freedom. When Sammy quit his job it was a monumental decision because while he lost his job he was trying to become a hero in front of the girls. Sammy had worked in the A&P grocery store for a while and through his descriptions of his job and actions while on the job one could see that he was not proud of his job as a courtesy clerk. Sammy was willing to quit his job for a couple of girls that he didn't even know so that they would notice him. The girls that entered the A&P represented Sammy's wandering imagination, longing for freedom and desire for a change in his mundane daily activities. When Sammy quit his job he was taking a stand against authority whether justified or not because he didn't like his meaningless job and wished for freedom from the A&P and his manager. I will talk about the foreshadowing in the story that is used to show that Sammy wants to quit his job anyways and he uses the girls as an excuse to do what he wanted to do in the first place while defending the girls. Then I will explain the reasons of Sammy quitting his job by talking about Sammy's wandering imagination
The final place where Sammy shows the most compassion for his new friends is, ". I will follow it by writing about his interactions with his boss and the sheep that represent authority figures in the short story. Sammy didn't only look at their appearances but he created stories behind their being in the grocery store in the first place. Sammy uses humor to show how routine the A&P has become for him working in the store. Poor kids, I began to feel sorry for them, they couldn't help it" (Updike 17). Sammy dislikes his job and the customers that come in because they tell him what to do. "She's one of these cash-register-watchers, a witch about fifty with rouge on her cheekbones and no eyebrows, and I know it made her day to trip me up" (Updike 16). The narrator of the story, Sammy, quits his job to make a statement to himself and to the authority like figures around him. This is probably the last straw for Sammy because the manager is embarrassing these innocent girls in front of everybody in the store. He thinks it is hilarious how the customers act like sheep running through the store day after day. The girls are near his age unlike the other customers in the store so Sammy feels a connection without ever actually talking to them. The reason that it seems sarcastic is because the detail that he goes into seems very lengthy. The sheep is a name that Sammy has come up with for all the customers that herd together through the store.
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Acceptance Essays
