As the girls begin to leave the store, Sammy suddenly turns to Lengel and quits his job, protesting the way Lengel has embarrassed the girls. Sammy hopes the girls are watching him. Lengel tries to talk Sammy out of quitting, telling him that he will regret the decision later and that his quitting will disappoint his parents.
Full Answer
Why does Sammy quit his job at the store?
Sep 26, 2020 · Even the three girls in bathing suits give in to society's mores as they leave the store humiliated by Lengel. Sammy quits because he sees Lengel and the shoppers as blindly following the protocol ...
How does Sammy describe Lengel and the A&P?
Feb 10, 2022 · The story A&P is a classic American short story that takes place in an average department store. The protagonist, Sammy the clerk, shifts from being helpful and friendly to rude and nasty towards his customers over time due to the store’s remodeling. In the story “A&P,” Sammy is a young boy who wants to be a cowboy.
Where does Sammy see Lengel take his spot at the cash register?
This girl, whom Sammy dubs “Queenie,” has a natural grace and confidence, in addition to her beauty. As the girls roam the aisles of the A&P, they create a stir. As Sammy points out, the store is in the center of town, nowhere near the beach, where the girls’ attire would attract less notice. Sammy’s coworker Stokesie ogles the girls as ...
What does Sammy say about the girls in the shop?
By quitting, he is protesting against the unfair treatment of the girls that came into the store by his manager. In principal/theory, Sammy is taking a stand against his manager being so hateful ...
What does Sammy do at the end of A&P?
How does Sammy feel after he exits the store?
How does Sammy describe the A&P customers and employees?
Why did Sammy quit his job in A&P?
How does Sammy change in the story A&P?
How old is Sammy A&P?
How would you describe Sammy in A&P?
What does Sammy learn in A&P?
How is Sammy immature in A&P?
Is Sammy a sexist?
Is Sammy a hero in A&P?
Who is the antagonist in A&P?
Why did Sammy quit the A&P?
Seeing as how this story was written in the 60’s, it’s easy to understand not just the manager’s reaction to girls’ wardrobe, but everyone else in the store who laid their eyes on them. Society was much more strict back then. But what we see with Sammy is a small glimpse of the path his life will take from that point on. When Sammy quits, he does so because he believes that the girls were treated wrongfully, even though nobody else sees it that way. This leads me to believe that Sammy is drifting away from the conformities and the ways of thinking that his society has established. He stood up for what he thought was right. And he knows that this is not going to be an easy life to lead, but all that matters to him is that it’s one he knows he can live with. Sammy took his first step toward rebellion against what he believed was an unreasonable point of view and opened his eyes to get a clearer one. Being more open minded and accepting other points of views may not always be something others will find tolerable, but in the end, that’s what free will is all about. You just have to be brave enough to follow through.
What is the difference between Sammy and Lengel?
Sammy represents the liberal part of the 60’s while Lengel represents the conservative one. Sammy’s beliefs differed from Lengel’s because he had his revolutionary thoughts and didn’t support discrimination. In this epoch, we do not have situations like this one since it’s normal for people to go into stores with bathing suits.
What is the story of the three girls in the supermarket?
The story starts with Sammy noticing three girls entering the store. What captures his attention is that they’re in two-piece bathing suits. The fact that they had bathing suits on may appear to be meaningless at first, but then we are told that the people that frequently visited the supermarket had not seen the ocean in decades. This small piece of information explains why Lengel, as well as some of the supermarket’s customers, were startled to see three young women in bathing suits inside the store. We must take into consideration that the story takes place during the sixties, a decade that, although being known to be ruled by free-spirited ideals and social revolutions, started off with all the conservatism, dullness and seriousness of the fifties. Lengel saw the lack of clothing from the three girls as scandalous and offensive, as if showing so much skin was a terrible sin. He clearly shows his anger and intolerance by treating the girls in a poor and cruel manner. He tells them to not come back unless they are sporting appropriate clothing that covers most of the body’s skin. Then comes Sammy, and confronts Lengel for being so hateful and intolerant towards the girls. He threatens to quit his job and eventually does, proving that he was just all bark and no bite. After his “heroic” act, Sammy realizes that the girls didn’t even witness what he had just courageously done. It is here that he comes to terms with the fact that things won’t get any easier from that point on. After quitting his job, Sammy understands that being fair and brave came with a sour and harsh price; that in order to stand up, one had to climb a very steep hill. In this story, Sammy represents the youth, as he is somewhat sick of the stiff and grey attitude of the elder people. He finds them too close-minded, and finally blows up when he sees unfair acts like Lengel’s. Sammy represents what would later become the powerful and liberal youth movement that appeared in the sixties. Meanwhile, Lengel represents the older people or the authority, those that were stuck in concepts such as tradition, and showed no flexibleness to change because of their rock-solid ideals. This story shows the ever-lasting clash of the young with the old, as well as the huge gap of difference that exists between their ideals and attitudes.
What is a good example of a teenager making a bad mistake?
Sammy is a really good example of how teenagers like us can make really bad mistakes. This story, happening around the 1960’s, tells us how a guy named Sammy was working as a cashier in a grocery story, and how out of a sudden he quits. He was interested in a girl that was always going to the store in a swimsuit. For the manager Lengel, who was a strict serious person who follows rules, though it was not a great idea to have her like that in the store, since it was against the policy of the store. He then asks her and her friends to leave, that it was not appropriate for a lady to go in a grocery store like that. It’s understandable for an old person to act like that since he’s already a mature person who runs a grocery store, but for Sammy it wasn’t something he was in accordance with the manager. He wanted to see her walking around in the store half naked, it was something he made him feel alright. It’s understandable because for a teenager like him, most of the things in his mind is just having fun. For him however, he was trying to decide which was better. Thanks to the manager the girl and her friends decide to walk away, embarrassed by the words Lengel said. Sammy then decided after that that he would quit, and he did. He couldn’t stand the look on the girl’s face all embarrassed, so he quits so that she can notice what he did. Unfortunately for him, his sudden decision, mostly made because of the hormones and probably what a knucklehead he was, the girls didn’t even notice him, and they go away. Now Sammy realizes what he had done but it was too late. Now he stayed without the gilrs, the job, and without his dignity.
What is the story of A&P based on?
A&P is based on a supermarket called as it title. Sammy, a young men, who work as a cashier was impressed by three girls, one of them called queenie. The girls are wearing bath suits, the workers and other people get confuse because they didn’t understand why they were searing bath suits in a store, because the beach was far away from them, they are people in town who hasn’t see the ocean for over 20 year. Sammy was kind of nervous as girls get close to him to pay, but Lengel the store management tells the girls that they should not be in the store dress like that, the girls were embarrassed and left the store and Sammy quit working because of the reaction against the girl. When he gets out the market the girls has already gone. In actual time, we can consider Sammy as a young man who was deciding in which team it would be, if he stayed working maybe he could still living the life he knows, but if go with girls, he may experience the new world he has never know, but stayed in a transition mode. As he quit working he has multiple choices to do with his life, Vietnam War started that year, so he can go and enter the army. Lendel, in actual time we can see it as very exaggerated person because the girls where customer like everyone. In that decade the 60, the woman freedom started. In this story we can see how the people and the point of view of person have change during the time. What would do Lengel if he travel in time into our time, what would be his expression against our mood of live?
What is the setting of A&P?
The story’s setting is important because it takes place in the middle of the town, where there is no beach nearby making it even more bizarre for girls to be walking around in bikinis. The time the story is set is equally important because in the 1960’s the society was more conservative than it is today. The character that represented these conservative views was Lengel, the manager of the store, he is clearly uncomftable as soon as he sees the girls, so he rapidly tells them that they are not properly dressed and that they need to use clothes that cover their shoulders. On the other hand, Sammy observes all three of them closely and is interested on the way they carry themselves. He notices everything about the girls especially one, which he refers to as “Queenie”, he gives emphasis to her beauty and confidence. At the end of the story Sammy stands up against Lengel’s conservative views and decides to quit his job. In a sociologist perspective the story offers Sammy’s thoughts of social classes and how he feels that he needs to accomplish a higher position in life, this reveals the narrators thinking that one’s success is defined by money and social classes. On a more psychological view, the story shows how Sammy matures and that after objectifying the girls he begins to develop a set of morals that give him a new point of view on life and a desire to defend them.
What is the story of the hole story?
This story is about a young man that is working on a supermarket in the 1961. The story start in a normal summer day in the north of Boston. The story problem begin when Sammy saw Three young Girls walking across the street wearing bathing suit only one of them is without two of them where without shoes. Sammy fell attracted to them and started staring at them during the hole story and then the manager of the market was arguing with the girls because the policy of the store says that you could been with your shoulders uncovered on the store. That argument lead to a fire up Sammy how thought that if he say he quit and the girls say him they would notice him and he could have a shot with the main girl of the trio wish he called Queenie. But it backfire him because he ended up without a job and the girls didn’t even notice what he did to defend them. One of the thing you see is that this one of the first time in the history of the world that the women are more liberal in the history of the world. This happen because of the Vietnam War that Men where fight at Vietnam the wife and daughter of soldier where almost alone in the state so they started to do men thing and seeing that they could do it at a equal level or even better so they started to fight for more civil right and more liberty.
Why does Sammy think of the customers as sheep?
In the short story "A & P" by John Updike, Sammy thinks of the customers as sheep because they all appear alike to him, and they seem mindless. Just as sheep will flock and follow one another, so do the customers at the A & P as they go up and down the aisles, blindly reading their shopping lists.
Why do the shoppers in the store are like sheep to Sammy?
The shoppers in the store are like sheep to Sammy because they blindly go up and down the aisles and then head to the checkout counters just as sheep are blindly herded to slaughter through chutes. When Lengel embarrasses the three girls for dressing inappropriately in the store, the others all crowd together nervously like scared sheep. Only Sammy dares to defy the policy of the store and society and challenge the rules. He's the only one who is willing to say society's rules, written and unwritten, are not always fair. Even the three girls in bathing suits give in to society's mores as they leave the store humiliated by Lengel. Sammy quits because he sees Lengel and the shoppers as blindly following the protocol of society, and yet no one seems to feel that Lengel's embarrassment of the girls is wrong. Sammy challenges whether Lengel should have the right to treat others in this fashion.
What does Sammy's reference to sheep in the short story A and P mean?
What does Sammy's reference to sheep in the short story "A & P" by John Updike mean? In "A&P," Sammy thinks of the regular customers in the A&P as sheep because they seem to him timid and obedient like sheep, flocked together in one indiscriminate herd. Calling them sheep shows his contempt for them but also helps him distinguish between them ...
What does Sammy say about sheep pushing carts down the aisle?
This is different from the girls who enter the store in their bathing attire and walk thewrong wayfrom the sheep,up and down the aisles. Sammy says, "The sheep pushing their carts down the aisle—the girls were walking against the usual traffic (not that we have one way signs or anything)..."(para 5). The girls, therefore, illustrate the unconventional, going against the rules.
What does Lengel tell Queenie?
A short time later, Lengel, the manager, tells Queenie that she and the other girls have to come into the store with their shoulders covered, as this is store policy. Queenie argues back, but Lengel insists it is the policy. At this point, Sammy notes that the other customers, sensing a scene, stay away from the girls and all move together into the cash register line run by Sammy's friend Stokesie. Sammy once again contrasts Queenie's bold behavior to the compliant behavior of the regular customers:
What does Sammy realize as he watches?
As he watches, Sammy realizes that his life has suddenly gotten much harder: he has made a bold decision, but it is easier to go through life as a sheep.
Why is Sammy called a sheep?
Sammy refers to the regular customers in the A&P as sheep because to him, they are like a herd of sheep. They are timid and do what they are told. They flock, to his mind, into one indiscriminate herd.
Why did Sammy quit his job?
As the girls begin to leave the store, Sammy suddenly turns to Lengel and quits his job, protesting the way Lengel has embarrassed the girls. Sammy hopes the girls are watching him. Lengel tries to talk Sammy out of quitting, telling him that he will regret the decision later and that his quitting will disappoint his parents. Sammy, however, feels that he must see the gesture through to its conclusion, and he exits the A&P. When he reaches the parking lot, he sees that the girls are long gone. Sammy is left alone with his ambiguous feelings and a growing sense of foreboding about what life has in store for him.
Who chastises the girls for entering the store in bathing suits?
Lengel , the store manager, approaches Sammy’s checkout lane. Lengel chastises the girls for entering the store in bathing suits, citing store policy. The girls are embarrassed, and Queenie protests that her mother wanted her to come in and buy some herring snacks. In this statement, Sammy gleans insight into Queenie’s life. He imagines her parents at a party, everyone dressed nicely and sipping “drinks the color of water.” He thinks about his own parents’ parties, where people drink lemonade or cheap beer.
What are the three girls wearing in A&P?
Three teenage girls, wearing only their bathing suits, walk into an A&P grocery store in a small New England town. Sammy, a young man working the checkout line, watches them closely. He appraises their looks and notes even minute details about the way they carry themselves. He also speculates about their personalities and their motivation for entering the store dressed the way they are. Sammy is particularly interested in the most attractive girl, who appears to be the leader of the group. This girl, whom Sammy dubs “Queenie,” has a natural grace and confidence, in addition to her beauty. As the girls roam the aisles of the A&P, they create a stir. As Sammy points out, the store is in the center of town, nowhere near the beach, where the girls’ attire would attract less notice. Sammy’s coworker Stokesie ogles the girls as well, joking around with Sammy as he does so. Sammy jokes along with him, but he feels the contrast between himself, still single, and the married Stokesie. Stokesie is resigned to a life of working at the A&P, whereas Sammy, although admitting that he and Stokesie are much alike, seems to feel that such a future is beneath him. As yet another of his coworkers begins to admire the girls, Sammy feels a twinge of pity for them for having compromised themselves this way, most likely without realizing it. This feeling is quickly supplanted by pure excitement as the girls choose Sammy’s checkout line to make their purchase.
Is Sammy married to Stokesie?
Sammy jokes along with him, but he feels the contrast between himself, still single, and the married Stokesie. Stokesie is resigned to a life of working at the A&P, whereas Sammy, although admitting that he and Stokesie are much alike, seems to feel that such a future is beneath him.
What does Sammy notice about the girls?
Sammy notices everything around him, and he drinks in every detail of the girls’ physical appearance, from the texture and patterns of their bathing suits to the different boundaries of their tan lines . Sammy goes beyond the surface details to glean insights about the people he observes.
What are Sammy's observations and descriptions?
Sammy’s focused observations and descriptions reveal his own prejudices and blind spots. For example, Sammy’s frankly lustful ogling of the girls reveals a certain immaturity, and he is dismissive and contemptuous of the A&P customers, seeing them as “sheep” and “houseslaves.”.
Who is Sammy's coworker?
He is equally dismissive of his coworker Stokesie, whom Sammy sarcastically presents as an unimaginative drone. The irony of Sammy’s sense of superiority is that he realizes that, in the eyes of the rich, carefree Queenie, he must seem just like Stokesie and the straight-laced Lengel.
What does Sammy's desire for Queenie mean?
Sammy’s desire for Queenie, which begins merely as a young man’s interest in a pretty girl, ends up as a desire for escape from the A&P and, in effect his own life.
What is Sammy's story?
"A&P" author John Updike describes Sammy as "a typical well intentioned male trying to find his way in society" ( source ). When we meet Sammy on this lazy summer afternoon, the big theme of his life becomes pretty obvious.
Why did Sammy quit his job?
Updike claims that this difference in social classes is the main reason Sammy quits his job. He says Sammy's "gesture of quitting has to do with the fact that she was rich and she was poor, as he sees it" ( source ).
How does Updike reveal Sammy's class?
Sammy's class is revealed through his job, his fears about the future, and his family's use of beer glasses to mark big family events.
What class is Sammy?
Sammy belongs to what's sometimes known as the "blue-collar" class. The name comes from the blue collars on the uniforms worn by many factory and industrial workers. These workers, at least in 1961, generally earned less than so-called "white collar" workers, such as clerks, accountants, and other office workers (on the low end) and bankers and lawyers (at the high end).
