A & P Essay

“A & P” by John Updike is a story about conformity. Sammy’s attitude and behavior was greatly influenced by the young girls that strutted through the grocery store in bathing suits. It becomes apparent that he is interested in them by the way he describes each of the girls and what they were wearing: “and what got me, the straps were down” (Updike 220). Sammy’s boss told the girls to come in the store next time with more clothes on. Of course, Sammy has to impress these astonishing ladies-- “The girls, and who’d blame them, are in a hurry to get out, so I say ‘I quit’ to Lengel quick enough for them to hear, hoping they’ll stop an watch me, their unsuspected hero” (Updike 223). Females do seem to have the mental power it takes to get inside boys’ heads, especially these ones, but in reality all they want is attention. That is exactly what they got by walking in a cold grocery store in nothing but practically their birthday suits. When “Queenie” and the other girls came to his register, Sammy got lost in his thoughts and let them get the best of him. He claimed her money just came from “the two smoothest scoops of vanilla I had ever known were there, and pass a half and a penny into her narrow pink palm, and nestle the herrings in a bag and twist its neck and hand it over, all the time thinking” (Updike 223). He had an epiphany and decided to quit his job – not because he really wanted to, but because he was in such a daze over these girls he wanted to impress. The downfall for Sammy is that really he can’t afford to quit his job and doesn’t even have a logical excuse for doing it. “It’s true. I don’t. But it seems to me that once you begin a gesture it’s fatal not to go through with it” (Updike 223). This proves that Sammy is a weak character. Another reason why Sammy quit his job could just be because he wanted more excitement and was bored with it. It is obvious that he had nothing better to do other than drool over these girls. However, when he walked out of the store they were gone. All he saw was the real world and how hard it was going to be on him.