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Examples Of Individuality In A & P

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Throughout the short story, Sammy displays his disdain towards societal norms and those who conform and upkeep it. The usual customers who enter the A & P, for example, are the type of people that Sammy berates for their lack individuality. He finds them all to be identical, lacking any real original thoughts of their own. His comparisons between the shoppers and “sheep” (33) and “pigs” (36) shows how Sammy believes them to be nothing more than a herd of mindless animals who just unthinkingly follow the same routine day in and day out. Sammy comments to himself, “I bet you could set off dynamite in an A & P and the people would by and large keep reaching and checking oatmeal off their lists and muttering…” (33) This constant ridicule of the …show more content…

Queenie’s vastly different persona from the other customers inspires Sammy. Her individuality and disregard of conservative values not only shines through her attire, but also how she and her friends, “…were walking against the usual traffic…” (33) This displays how Queenie goes against society’s intended path that most individuals follow and she creates her own. While observing Queenie, Sammy is not only attracted to her physically, but also to what she represents. Queenie symbolizes the prospect of a life he has only dreamed of. A life that Sammy gains insight into once Queenie mentions “a jar of herring snacks.” (35) He concocts a scenerio within Queenie’s household where, “Her father and the other men were standing around in ice-cream coats and bow ties and the women were in sandals picking up herring snacks on toothpicks…” (35) Sammy depicts Queenie and her family as being well-off, which starkly contrasts to his family’s middle class lifestyle. Sammy aspires for this lifestyle as he finds it to be exciting and …show more content…

Lengel. Mr. Lengel exemplifies the more traditional and conventional way of doing things. Sammy describes him as, “… pretty dreary, teaches Sunday school and the rest, but he doesn't miss that much.” (35) Mr. Lengel, of course, disapproves of Queenie and her indecent friends and reprimands them. Sammy interprets this action as if Mr. Lengel was criticizing his ideal future more so than the actual girls. This causes Sammy to finally gather the courage to take a stand against Mr. Lengel and essentially society itself. When Sammy confronts his boss about embarassing the girls, Mr. Lengel retorts with, “It was them who were embarrassing us.” (36) The “us” Mr. Lengel is referring to is the whole town and its values. Sammy differing opinion over who was embarassing who demonstrates that Sammy is no longer conforming to the town’s standards and has thus taken the first step towards becoming his own individual. This rebellion against Mr. Lengel represents Sammy turning his back on the life society dictated for him and the old-fashioned ideals that his town and the citizens within it

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In the story “A&P,” Updike communicates Sammy’s imprisonment though his location within the grocery store. In the first few sentences, Updike places “[Sammy] in the third check-out slot, with [his] back to the door, so [he doesn’t] see [the girls] until they’re over by the bread” (Updike 17). The physical isolation of the ‘check-out slot’ combined with Sammy’s inability to see outside demonstrates how he is incapable of seeing the outside world, let alone reaching its freedom. The act of Sammy noticing the girls further attests to his mental confinement; as instead of thinking of the store in terms of layout, he thinks in terms of ‘bread’ (17). His habit of thinking in terms of products signifies how the grocery store is where he spends the majority of his time, further alluding to Sammy’s physical confinement within the

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Who is the Real Hero in A&P? During the story of "A&P" by John Updike, the narrator playing the main character Sammy has a really negative view on the place that he works, and also a negative view of the people that choose to shop in the store. Sammy is portrayed to be a typical nineteen-year-old boy who doesn't act on his beliefs until three random half dressed girls spark his interest. He is really bitter towards the customers and towards the whole entire store in general but only chooses to speak up about it when he needs to prove himself to the ladies. Sammy acts only on his impulse to prove himself to his boss and the girls, and would not have taken a stand otherwise.

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A major theme in A&P is personal freedom. Throughout the story Updike uses metaphor for all elements in the story to implies the theme. At the beginning of the story, Sammy uses sarcastic tone to describe the customers as “sheep” and “houseslaves” which implies he is different from them in mindset. The way how Sammy talks about others shows his intellectual mind. He is not same as Stokesie who wants to be a manager one day.

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In John Updikes “A&P” story, I don’t feel that Sammy quits for just one reason—I also feel his actions where less of trying to impress the girls and more of his attempt to break the mold or cycle that he feels he has become apart of. When referencing the store, or the town and those who are part of the story Sammy references people as ‘sheep’ which is often used as a way to describe people who lack imagination, who follow/copy/mimic someone else. You hear that same tone as he describes the store and his town (cash-register-watchers, freeloaders, Big Tall Goony-Goony, etc) in somewhat of fantasy/imaginative manner as if the only way he can cope through the daily rituals of life, which has gotten to be mundane, is to narrate the events of his

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