All things are not as they first appear to be. That sentence thematically summarizes the story A&P, by John Updike. This short story tells of a turning point in the young life of 19 year old Sammy. Superficially it's a tale of a small town boy quitting his job for all the wrong reasons. In depth, it's much more significant than that.
             The story immediately begins with a description of the three girls who changed Sammy's life. When the leader of the trio is insulted by the manager of the store, where Sammy toils as a checkout boy, a confrontation is born. The girls hold their own; however, Sammy doesn't let it rest. It seems like gallantry comes from him, as it appears he quit out of honor. The girl he quits for, however, doesn't even notice. Sammy therefore seems to quickly regret his words ofI quit.? He doesn't take his words back, though, despite his knowing they were folly. One could rightly say he quit to get the girl. In a way that statement is also quite ironic. Evidently, Sammy doesn't think much of girls. This is very evident in two instances. The first was when he was describing stretch asThe kind of girl other girls think is very 'striking? andattractive? but never quite makes it, as they very well know, which is why they like her so much.? That was an apparent crack at the shallowness of girls and was reinforced later on in his retort about there maybe might be nothing but a buzz in a girls head. Sammy was very ignorant of woman and his view leaves it hard to believe that he quit forQueenie?. More probable, in the reason that he quit was that the incident with the three girls was just 'the straw that broke the camel's back.?
             Sammy was obviously from a small town. He, like many others in many places, got sick of the small town ideas and the small town views. The people there he referred to as sheep. For they were all alike, hiding in their own cowardice behind a cloak of wool. They were waiting to...