A&P

In John Updike's "A&P" we are introduced to Sammy, a nineteen year old grocery store clerk who is the main character and the narrator of the story. After a group of girls walk in, we get the possible impression that he's maybe a bit chauvinistic from his comment, "You never know for sure how girls' minds work (do you really think it's a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar?)"(16). With Sammy's continual reference to the customers as "sheep" (like some form of slang), his knowledge of the store usually being empty on Thursday, and when he rings people up often enough the register makes a song that you can put words to, you get the sense that he's been working at the A&P for a very long time. Finally we come to the point where Sammy quits his job after his manager (Lengel) reprimands the three girls for the way they are dressed. Sammy tells us that this is, "the sad part of the story"(17), according to his family, but not necessarily for himself. After making the choice to quit and following through on it, he realizes that he's just made an important decision saying, "I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter."(20). Although he probably used the girls cause as a scapegoat to quit, he sticks with his choice. We can say Sammy is starting to make adult decisions, doing the right thing by moving on with his life rather then just staying at the A&P and wasting away. The end of the story reveals that there comes a time in your life when you have to choose a path to go down (whether it be staying at the A&P, or moving on) and what's that Sammy did.