Let's Play with Sammy in "A&P"

In A&P, John Updike uses the motif of depersonalization as one of the means by which he develops the character of Sammy, the nineteen year old narrator and protagonist of the story. In its many references to depersonalization, Sammy shows that he uses a recurring theme that figuratively reduces several individuals to an object. During the 1960’s, on a Thursday afternoon at the A&P store in a city north of Boston, the attitude the narrator has towards the material presented reflects the character. Although Sammy presents himself as naive, his outstanding imagination given to us from the third person point of view seems to balance his behavior. This limited omniscient point of view helps the reader to understand exactly how the character feels about the situation he is in.
The character Sammy expresses his thoughts and reasoning as no...