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Jobcie Portilus Professor Franz Craft ENC 1102 (Mon. & Wed. 8:00-9:15) 7 February 2018 How A Young Man Was Able to See the Error of His Ways and Learn from That Experience As the conformity of society progresses, people's expectations of others become more vigorous. However, when conformity is neglected by other people, it is seen as disrespectful or out of the ordinary and they can also be known as outcasts. In A&P a realistic, fictional story written by John Updike, he emphasizes the judgemental and impulsive decisions that the main character, Sammy, makes because of the inspiration he acquired from three girls who had broken the bonds of conformity of the norm, which later led to the loss of his job and conveyed a lesson on how all actions have consequences. Every character in A&P has contributed to the outcome of this story; however, they all have their own backgrounds, personalities, and actions that led to helping Sammy make an unjustified decision at the end. Sammy, the protagonist of this story, is just an average nineteenyear-old that has a job at the A&P and works as a checkout boy. Despite all of that, Sammy is very judgemental towards the world. In the story, Sammy compares an old woman to a witch and even all the customers to sheep (A&P, Backpack Literature pg. 19). Nonetheless, it was his judgemental attitude that allowed him to fall victim to lust for a certain girl and her friends. The three girls that intrigued Sammy were all wearing bathing suits in the middle of the store, which is what caught his undivided attention, and walked around as if it was normal. The girls were probably not from around that area because Sammy stated that even though that the A&P was in the middle of town and the beach was five miles away, the women from around that area would

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generally put on a shirt or shorts before they went into the streets, but theses girls were different (A&P, Backpack Literature pg. 21). Lastly, Lengel, the manager of the A&P, was described as a dreary man who taught Sunday school (A&P Backpack Literature pg. 21). Lengel is a very strict man who has no regards to those who break the rules. Even though he may be an uncompromising individual, he can be seen as the Shepherd of the A&P because just as a Shepherd takes care of his flock and pursues any threat that may occur to his herd, Lengel thinks of the well-being of the store and of his customers when he decides to confront the three girls. Although Lengel and the three girls were important characters, to Sammy, they all represented something and contributed to the outcome of the story. Even though the characters are important parts of the A&P, the storyline indubitably shows how Sammy was able to take such untenable action. Where everything takes place or where a person is from is especially important because those factors can influence a person's actions and even shape them into the people that they are today. The town that the A&P originates from is a quiet place with only a congregational church, a newspaper store, and three real estate offices. It can be inferred that not a lot of people live in this town, but the ones who do, live by strict, conformative rules. However, when Queenie, the girl who intrigued Sammy the most, and her two friends came in dressed so immorally it did cause some people to be bewildered and perplexed. Despite that, conflict arose when Lengel caught them. As the three girls continued to walk throughout the store in a carefree manner, Lengel scolded them for the kind of attire that they had on and advised them to put something else on. The contention was dragged on for so long that customers began to bombard the checkout slots. In order to save the girls and become their hero, Sammy, on an impulse, decides to quit his job. The town that Sammy grew up in shaped its own conformity and when those rules were broken, Sammy took

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an interest and came to a denouement that could affect the rest of his life. As the story slowly comes to an end, a certain chain of events take place and help Sammy realize that actions generate consequences whether it is for a good or bad reason and he was able to gain an experience that allowed him to mature slowly, not fully, but enough to see the error of his ways. When Sammy quit his job, it was mainly for two reasons: his lust for Queenie got the best of him and he wanted to impress her and because her and her friends were getting in trouble by Lengel. However, even though Sammy did lust for Queenie, he began to feel sorry for her when he saw someone else sizing up her joints. It can be inferred that Sammy felt that way because women are not objects to be looked upon simply because of their bodies and that was probably why he took a gentler approach to impress her as to objectifying her. Nonetheless, even though his approach was more considerate than the other person's, Sammy still quit his job, out of eagerness to appeal to her, because his desire for Queenie ended up as a desire to escape from the A&P (SparkNotes). As a result of all of that, Sammy was able to learn a few things. After quitting his job, Sammy turned around to see if any of the girls noticed his heroic act, only to find out that they were gone (A&P, Backpack Literature pg.23). He ended up realizing that what he had done was something that he should not have and that life was going to be harder for him thereafter. In the story A&P written by John Updike, Sammy was able to see through the other characters, the setting and conflict, and the lesson he learned that any action that takes place has a positive or negative reaction and he was able to see what really mattered. Although Sammy had lost something that could change his life, he gained what is thought to be the beginning of maturity.

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Works Cited Page

Updike, John. A&P, Backpack Literature. 5th ed., Pearson, 2016

“A&P.” SparkNotes, SparkNotes, www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/a-and-p/character/sammy/....