John Updike’s story “A & P”, published in The New Yorker’s first issue in 1961, can be considered one of the funniest pieces in American school literature. The story’s peculiarity and appeal could be attributed to Sammy, who is both the narrator/protagonist and tries to explain from his point of view his impulsive decision at A & P to quit his job as a cashier. The story’s protagonist is used by the author to introduce the theme immaturity. Updike seems imply that Sammy’s childish tendencies, as exemplified in his judgmental attitudes, ill-mannered personalities and sexist thoughts could be the reason he quit his job. This paper examines Immaturity through the lens of the protagonist.
A&P Updike first portrays Sammy in a short story as being overly critical of those around him. Sammy compares the supermarket shoppers metaphorically to sheep. Sammy loosely calls the three girls who were shopping at the supermarket “sheep pushing down the aisle”, for example. By saying this, he implied that the shoppers were acting stupid by following one another down the aisle while whispering, giggling and using fumbling words. The author claims that the girls followed their ringleader blindly down the aisle, while shopping for groceries. This is similar to the way sheep follow one another while looking for pastures. Sammy’s judgemental attitude can also be seen when he describes the reaction of his co-worker to the girls he sees. McMahon, an older co-worker, follows the three girls following them with his eyes. Sammy is disbelieved that he appears “to be sizing up their joints”. Sammy was wrong to criticize his co-worker’s actions of ogling the girls. He has done this since they arrived. Dessner said that Sammy found his co-worker’s long stare at the girl to be strange and disgusting, especially because he was older, while he himself is ashamedly driven to lust after them. Sammy, for example, admits to his love for Queenie when it is revealed that she has “the smoothest vanilla scoops” he’s ever seen. The symbolism used by the author is clever, but Sammy clearly meant the breasts and genitals of the young lady. Sammy seems to not consider his ogling to be wrong.
Sammy’s judgemental nature is also evident when he refers the “Queenie” leader to the girls as someone who has a higher social standing due to her gait. Sammy’s judgmental outlook is clearly evident in the nickname that he gave one girl. Inadequately, the protagonist believes Queenie is of a higher socioeconomic class. He imagines Queenie’s parents hosting a party at her home. He envisions guests enjoying cocktails at the party. Sammy, on the other hand, relates a scene from his house and mentions that his mother often offers guests a glass “lemonade”. This excerpt shows Sammy’s conviction that Queenie is a member of a wealthy family. Mcfarland states that Sammy is associated with HiHo crackers, a symbol of an ordinary middle-class. Sammy however associates Queenie, a member of the upper-class, with “Herring Snacks”. Therefore, Sammy is known for making impulsive and childish judgements about others without considering hard facts.
Updike depicts the protagonist’s disrespectful behavior and lack of courtesy throughout the whole story. Sammy does not show respect or courtesy in dealings with customers and colleagues. The story reveals how Sammy treats a customer’s concern about service. Sammy had twice rung up the customer’s purchase, so she promptly notified him of his gross error. Sammy didn’t even apologize for his errors, which is understandable for aggrieved customers. He calls her “witch” and wonders if she’s ever made the same mistake. Sammy, who is a fifty-year-old lady, should have shown her respect and apologize. Dessner clearly demonstrates Sammy’s complete disdain of the woman who seems to be elderly. Sammy not only accuses her with malicious intent, but also calls her a “witch”. Sammy is said to have studied the history of Salem to see that Salem once had been associated to witches.
Sammy, in a disrespectful manner, claims that Stokesie has “two baby chalked up to his fuselage”. Sammy’s lack maturity and disregard for Stokesie’s virility can be seen in his casual reference to Stokesie’s viability. Sammy, 19 years old, sees McMahon admiring the girls. He said that McMahon was too old to be ogling girls. Sammy quit his job after he spoke rudely to McMahon and refused to discuss sensitive topics privately. Surprisingly Sammy does not show any respect for his boss, despite him being a friend and family member who helped him to get the job. He publicly contradicts Lengel by choosing the defense of the girls. Sammy refuses Lengel’s attempts to convince him of his wisdom. All this evidence shows that Sammy, at 19 years old, is immature and doesn’t consider the consequences of what he does to others.
Sammy’s immature behavior and sexist thoughts are another example of his immatureness. It is obvious that Sammy’s description of the girls focuses only on their physical attributes, including their breasts, when describing them. He admitted that Queenie’s “two spoonfuls of vanilla” captivated him. In this way, Sammy reduces women to body parts. When he wonders what Queenie is thinking, he jokes that women don’t have brains. He says that women don’t have a functioning mind. Their brains are “a little buzzy like a bee in an empty glass jar”. Sammy clearly objects to women, indicating that they don’t consider them functional human beings. Sammy’s brave but foolish actions towards end of story are likened to a boy lacking maturity. Sammy is foolishly proclaimed the hero of the girls, to save them all from embarrassment. He gets in a fight over his manager. This leads to Sammy quitting the job to impress them all, but then realizing that they have long since moved on.
Shaw said that Sammy does not seem to have any lust to shop for women, but that he could not cope with the “sexy and nimble” girl who comes into his domain …”.. He is unable to control his desire for Queenie and eventually gives up his job.
Sammy’s personality, attitude and sexism throughout the story prove that he is indeed young. Sammy’s impressions of other people are inaccurate, as shown above. He doesn’t seem to take into account the consequences of what he does, and he isn’t even open to the possibility that he is wrong. He does not show respect and courtesy for others, even his elders. The last thing you will notice is that he’s a sexist. He doesn’t just objectify women, but he also lures them by his lust. His impulsive decision not to quit his job was seen as a sign of immaturity or foolishness.
