A&P

Sammy seems very bored with his job. Everything from his body language to his thoughts shows how unhappy he is with being a cashier. The author John Updike uses great figurative language and I could just picture Sammy leaning against his register arrogantly making assumptions about the customers. Sammy was very sarcastic and I thought some of his sayings were amusing while others were rude or offensive; like calling the customers sheep for example. The biblical meaning for sheep is very different from Sammy’s. Sheep in this story has the meaning of being stupid and ignorant. It is very evident that from working in the grocery store he has really learned to read people from first appearances. I feel that the three girls who walked into the A&P were screaming for attention. Walking into a public grocery store with nothing but bathing suits on was rude in my opinion, and the fact that didn’t even have the audacity to put shoes on was beyond belief. When Sammy quit, in hopes of being somewhat of a silent hero, it was surprising. The girls had no idea of how he felt about them, and probably didn’t care. Sammy showed no interest in them on the exterior, we as readers were fortunate enough to hear his thoughts and understand everything from his point of view. At the end of this story Sammy had an epiphany. He realizes that he did make a mistake and cannot take it back. It is kind of tough reality when one longs for something but its not there (i.e. the girls in Sammy’s case). But one must learn from such situations. Throughout this story it shows how Sammy has grown and he now feels that he is in the real world and knows that the world was going to be hard to him after this step stone in his life.