In John Updike's short story "A&P", a young man makes a relatively important decision that could affect his life forever. The author uses characterization, symbolism, and setting to explain Sammy's real life issues such as decision making, consequence of action, and responsibility. This story is a reflection of the narrator's realization of his own individualism. All of these areas combine and contribute to Sammy's coming of age.
             The main character, Sammy, works at a grocery store called the A&P in a middle aged summer colony near the coast. One summer day, he and another cashier, Stokesie, watch three girls in bikinis walk through the store. The author uses a lot of characterization and imagery to develop each character and their unique character traits. Sammy, the protagonist, is a round, well developed character and is responsive to change. Stokesie is Sammy's foil, a boring conformist and represents everything that Sammy does not want to become. The author characterizes Lengel, the manager, as a stereotypical boss who strictly follows the rules without using any personal judgment or empathy. Lengel proves to be Sammy's antagonist. Sammy calls the usual customers "sheep pushing their carts down the aisle" (Updike), meaning that they are all the same. Sammy describes the girls in great detail but none as much as Queenie. The author uses imagery to describe them such as "...this clean bare plane of the top of her chest down from the shoulder bones like a dented sheet of metal" and "soft looking can" (Updike). His descriptions of the girls not only explain their characters, but help in understanding Sammy's character simultaneously. Although he describes them in detail, the three girls are stock characters.
             The setting of the story is in a small resort town in Massachusetts at the A&P grocery store about five miles from the be
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