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A & P

In the story “A & P,” by John Updike, Sammy is a very complex character who has mixed reasons for quitting his supermarket job. On one hand, he is strongly against the policy that the supermarket enforces. It states that people must come into the store with their shoulders covered. On the other hand, he is trying to impress one girl whom he likes. Finally, his pride causes him to make an irrational decision, which is quitting his job. If I were Sammy, I would not have quit my job over something that petty. If everyone quit their jobs over something that insignificant, then no one would ever work.
The policy enforced by the supermarket strongly offends Sammy. Sammy feels that the treatment of the girls coming into the store is unreasonable and therefore, he decides to quit. This evidence comes at the end of the story. The girls are confronted by Lengel, the store’s manager, for wearing bathing suits in the grocery store. The girls decide to leave rather than argue with Leng...

Posted by: Margaret Rowden

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