A & P Analyzation

Sammy desires to impress the three girls in their bathing suits that have walked in to the A & P, at which he works. When the girls walk in, all Sammy can seem to focus on is the build of each one. One girl in particular seems to catch Sammy's attention and hold it the majority of the time the girls are in the store. Sammy describes the girl as the queen of the group by saying, "She was the queen. She kind of led them, the other two peeking around and making their shoulders round" (322). Sammy anticipates the chance of interaction with the queen, "Slots three through seven are unmanned and I could see her wandering between Stokes and me, but Stokesie with his unusual luck draws an old party in baggy grey pantsÐ'... so the girl comes to me" (325). The young boy tries to impress the ladies and fulfill his desire to impress them.

The manager belittles the girls by making them feel inferior about them wearing their bathing suits in the store. "The girls, and who'd blame them, are in a hurry to get out, so I say, Ð''I quit' to Lengel quick enough for them to hear, hoping they'll stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero" (327). Upset at his manager for belittling the girls, Sammy quits his job, hoping to impress the girls. Sammy leaves, but only to find that "his ladies" have left, "I look around for my girls, but they're gone, of course" (328). Sammy now realizes that his effort to impress the girls has failed, and now he is left with a life full of heartache, due to his rash decision to try to impress a pretty girl.