Sammy Makes a Decision in John Updikes A&P :: A&P Essays

Sammy Makes a Decision     John Updikes short story A&P is about a teenager who has to make a serious decision.  The story is set in an A&P supermarket in a town north of Boston, probably about the course of study 1960.  As the plot unfolds, Sammy switchs from being a thoughtless and sexist boy to being a young man who can make a decision, level though it might hurt him.            Sammy tells us he is xix years old.  He is a check-out clerk in the local A&P, where the boss, Lengel, is a friend of Sammys p arents.  Sammy does not seem to deal his line very much.  He calls one of his customers a witch and says the other customers are houseslaves and sheep.  He himself comes from a middle-class family.  When they have a party, he says, they coif lemonade and if its a real racy affair Schlitz in tall supply with Theyll Do It Every Time cartoons stencilled on (15).  In addition, Sammy is sexist.  He gives long, loving descriptions of the girls who relieve oneself all the trouble, and he thinks at first that girls may not even have minds, asking, do you really think its a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar? (13) However, he does change as the plot goes on.     The plot of the story deals with three girls who come into the breed dressed only in bathing suits.  They make their entrance in the very first sentence, and they complicate Sammys life.  At first, Sammy, his older friend Stokesie, and McMahon the botcher all look at the girls lustfully.  But of them all, only Sammy enjoys the entertainment the girls bring.  The other shoppers crash their carts, look stunned, and are suddenly jarred out of their everyday routine.  Sammy, who seems bore with his job, finds the change amusing.  He even begins to savor sorry for the girls when everyone else stares at them lustfully.  The plots study conflict occurs late in the story when Lengel, the manager, comes in and scolds the girls.  Sammy knows that they are on their way out of the store, but Lengel has to yell at them and make them feel bad.