A & P

A & P is a short story written by John Updike in 1961. I think it's important to know when it was written because the time period was that of a rebellion. A younger generation aspired to see how far they could go, almost daring the ancient conservative to make a comment.
Manly decisiveness is apparent throughout this short narration. Sammy showed manly decisiveness when he quit his job. "Did you say something, Sammy?" "I said I quit." (223) Sammy had a chance to recant his resignation, to verbally backtrack, yet he stood firm in his decision. Lengel is adamant about his male decisiveness too. There is nothing the girls could have said to make Legel change his mind. He was determined to make the girls, in particular Queenie, understand her error. " "...it's our policy." He turns his back." (223) Legel wasn't interested in hearing this juvenile trio any longer, he turned his back to say, finished, end of conversation, I have the last word. Male decisiveness.
Did Sammy's reason for quitting walk in with that threesome one sunny afternoon? Not really. He didn't care about the customers, thinking derogatory thoughts like "...they would have burned her over in Salem." (220) and calling customers old, bums, and sheep. He never said these things out loud, mind you. He just thought them as a way to pass the day, to overcome the boredom of the job.
Sammy's epiphany was the last sentence. "...my stomach kind of fell..." (225) Here is a 19 year old man whose mom had got him employment and even ironed his shirt, yet he threw it away for a few girls who piqued his interest one sunny afternoon.
Sammy and the threesome were all part of the rebellion. The youth of the day who refused to conform, aspiring to see how far they could go.