A&P’s Sammy

A&P’s Sammy

A&P is a narrative of a young man called Sammy, who is coming of age and quits his work to stand against societal morality. His move proved a defining moment and real testing in his entire life. His actions make him stand out among other people, making him look like a hero, and ultimately he becomes afraid that the steps that he has taken will paint his reputation as a wrong person in his community. He mentions that a lousy reputation will ruin his chances of progressing in his life. John Updike is of the view that the limits and constraints of tradition must be questioned and forced to bring about change in society. This essay will discuss and provide a literary analysis of Sammy as the main character in A&P. I shall discuss Sammy’s perspective of life, weaknesses, values that he holds dear to him, and strengths that make him the hero.

Sammy is just 19years old and works as a cashier in a grocery store called A&P situated in Massachusetts town. The big theme of his life is very apparent as we reach Sammy on that lazy summer evening. Sammy claims that most people in his city—in any event, the individuals who are joining the A&P—are’ sheep’ or supporters, even’ frightened pigs in a chute’ (29). He assumes everyone is behaving, dressing, talking, and potentially thinking something very similar. He’s frightened, yet he doesn’t know how to break out of this stuffy, dull shed in which he sits. He sees an opportunity for him to transform his fantasies into actions as he meets the individual he considers Queenie. Sammy has a transitioning moment as he leaves his work and asks his manager, Lengel, how wrong he was towards the young ladies.

It is his first genuine test of courage and fortitude (and enduring that might be) to support what he believes. Sammy is of the “blue-collar” community, which is some of the time alluded to. The name is derived from the blue shades used by many manufacturing and construction employees in their made uniforms. Such occupations usually incur less payment than “white collar,” jobs as accountants, managers and subordinate staff (on the bottom end), and investors and lawyers (on the bottom end), in any event in 1961. His job reveals his status, his worries over the future, and the use of beer glasses by his family to label significant events of the family. His comprehension of the financial class of Queenie got centered on his propelled human perception capacity (He perceives things). He evaluates Queenie’s class thoroughly by just observing her shoes, uniform, how she talks,  what she eats and consumes, and how she addresses Lengel.

Sammy is a disaffected, reflective adolescent with intense curiosity in the other sex and has a keen sense of perception. Sammy observes his surroundings, and he watches from the color and the design of the ladies’ bathing suits up to the varying fringes of their tan lines in every part of the young ladies ‘ physical appearance. To gather information from the people he meets, Sammy moves past the obvious meaning. Queenie’s moderate bra sleeves, for instance, are amazingly erotic, yet they are also part and parcel of how he starts assuming how Queenie’s private life is (Making an image). After hearing the young ladies talking, his image turns out to be much increasingly sensuous as he begins comprehending and picturing Queenie’s inner life. Concentrated bits of knowledge and clarifications by Sammy show the generalizations and vulnerable sides. The intense gazing at the young ladies uncover, for example, some youthfulness and he is dismissive and contemptuous of the customers of A&P, regarding them as “sheep” and “house-slaves.”

Sammy even denies his colleague Stokesie, who Sammy addresses sarcastically as an unimaginative robot, as well. The hypocrisy in Sammy’s sense of superiority resides in his understanding that he has to appear just as Stokesie and straight-laced Lengel in the arms of the glamorous, carefree King. His willingness to differentiate himself — to demonstrate he is different— obliges him to give up his job. Yet he says, “I leave,” mainly because he needs the girls to overhear him, and when Sammy knows that he did not notice it, his action loses impact. It is less prudent to accept his apparent remorse and questions over his rash act, not with appreciation.

Queenie just began as a man’s interest characterized as a decent young girl. Sammy’s desire to leave the A&P, at last, ends up as his own identity. He is searching for conceivable outcomes outside his small involvement with the world he envisions with Queenie, which includes a network with captivating companionship, summer occasions, and the chance to challenge social standards in territories like A&P. Through his retirement, Sammy tries to demonstrate his desire to join this lovely alternate world and to seek positive intentions that will lead him into a new existence.

In conclusion, Sammy seems to present us with a plausible and simple explanation about him quitting the job at the A&P grocery store. He decides to stand up against his boss, who was against the ladies’ appearance (dress code) in the workplace regardless of minding if he will get sacked from work. Ultimately, he becomes dissatisfied with what he has done so far and wishes that he had taken a different approach living a more different life.

Work Cited

 

Blodgett, H. (2003). Updike’s A&P. The Explicator, 61(4), 236-237.

 

Porter, M. G. (1972). John Updike’s” A&P”: The Establishment and an Emersonian Cashier. The English Journal, 61(8), 1155-1158.