A & 0

John Updike's A & P was an enjoyable, easy story for me to read. It made me feel as though I was right there in the grocery store watching it place. It also took me back to my younger years, making me feel as though, for a short moment, I was a teenager again like Sammy. A teenager that didn't have a care in the world, a world that only existed because I was in it.

I had a few different interpretations of Sammy. The language and dialogue that the author used lead me to believe that Sammy was immature, funny, outspoken, and in some ways sensitive. From the first few paragraphs, I thought of Sammy as a typical nineteen year old typical boy. He was at work, but not working. He did more daydreaming and sightseeing than he did work. He impulsively quit his job because of how his manager treated the young women that where in the store. This to me was also a sign of immaturity because he quit his job solely for reasons that didn't have anything to do with him. He didn't take the time to think about how he was going to support himself. He didn't seem as though he had any positive plans for himself other than going to the beach with the three girls who walked in the grocery store.

Sammy showed his humorous side when he described the customers. (325) His outspoken and sensitive sides were shown when he quit his job. He took up for the girls honor by letting Lengel know that he should not have embarrassed the girls in the manner that he did.

Overall, I think of Sammy the way I feel about my teenage son, who eighteen is turning nineteen in June of this year. Both have a true sense of where they are going in life. They are impulsive, which at times makes them irresponsible. From experience with my older three sons, I know that some time, patience and guidance, will help them become productive, mature men. But not without bumping into a few of life's hard knocks first.