A&P essay

A&P essay

  • Submitted By: alannaaew
  • Date Submitted: 04/20/2014 7:47 AM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 780
  • Page: 4

A & P
People should not allow others to suppress their morals. They should be confident in themselves and what they believe in. The short story A & P by John Updike is an incredibly good example of maturing as a person and standing up for what is morally right. It also uses symbolism to the fullest extent for such a short piece of literature. It is the story of coming into adulthood. Sammy works at a grocery store in Salem, Massachusetts during the 1960s with a rude manager and an older co-worker. He takes particular notice when three girls come in wearing swimwear. While watching them he starts thinking about what their lives must be like compared to his. When the manager notices the attire of the young ladies, Sammy is put in a situation where he must decide what kind of person he will be. Sammy realizes what he believes is morally correct and does something about it knowing the consequences.
In Andrew Christopher's article "Sammy's Choice" he wrote about how Sammy quit his job because he didn't feel that he belonged there, and could not impress the girls. This is partially true. Sammy saw the situation as morally wrong and stood up for himself and what he wants through this situation. He felt as if this was his opportunity for a way out. The way the manager treated the girls gave him motivation to stand up to his manager Lengel. Christopher also states, "Had he taken the time to think over his actions before he carried them out he would have seen how foolish he was being and would not have gone threw with them"(Christopher 1). This may be true but that is just based on Christophers' opinion. Looking back at the story Sammy said he quit as the girls were leaving the store. Which in return Sammy's noble actions were never noticed. Shocked, the manager asked him to repeat what he had just said and Sammy then took the opportunity to stand by his decision and repeated, "I said, I quit" (152). He stood up for what he believed was...

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