Both Sammy and Marlow in some way feel lonely by the end of their stories because they each feel like they have done something wrong. Sammy from A&P feels like he only hurt himself by quitting his job. Marlow feels like a big fat liar because he was lying to people trying to keep Kurtz’s image as clean as possible. Lying will never get you anywhere as we all know by now.
Lets face it, when we were young we did some stupid things. Sometimes I spoke without even thinking. Or maybe doing the unthinkable just to impress a couple of hot looking girls. Well this is exactly the case with Sammy from A&P.
To begin with Sammy’s biggest problem is that I believe that he is too young to understand what his is doing. We did stupid things when we were young, but quitting your job is something else. He thought that by quitting his job he was going to get all this attention from the girls. On the contrary he got none at all and on top of that lost his job. After everything settled inside of him, he realized what an idiot he is and felt that emptiness inside of him. He not only hurt himself but he also let his manager down along with his parents. They too will find out soon since the manager is a family friend. If I was to be put in Sammy’s shoes, I would have a feeling of being irresponsible and of a failure. I think every kid in America should learn from Sammy’s mistake and think before you speak.
Now as for Marlow, he feels more like a liar. In life lies are told for many different reasons. In a story it can thicken the plot. In the Heart of Darkness Marlow dislikes lies even though he tells some himself. These two lies tell a lot about Marlow. Even though he has been touched by evil, he is still a good man himself. He believes that he never really did actually lie. Instead he believes that he let others continue to believe what they already believe. So that makes him believe that he is not a liar. Marlow in the middle of the story interrupts himself and says “you know I hate, detest, and can’t bear a lie.” He in no way thinks that he is better than the rest of the world.
One rhetorical strategy P.Henry uses in his speech is parallelism. Here's one example of parallelism Patrick Henry applies in his speech; “I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and provide for it.” Sir Patrick is saying that he is ready to know the truth and to solve it. Here's another example of parallelism; “We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne.” He is reminding the colonists what they have tried with England, to no avail.
Luckily, the narrator and Sammy both realize their deficiency after the situations with the other characters. In “A&P” the narrator’s turning point in his life is when he finds the bikers body in the lake next to him. In “Greasy Lake” the realization occurs after Sammy quits his job and tries to be the “hero” to those girls. In both stories, the protagonists’ have no idea what the real world is like, or how it works.
Patrick Henry was known as “the Orator of Liberty” and created his name with his speeches. When colonists were divided in 1775, some were hoping to work it out but not Patrick Henry. He thought the only choice was to go to war with Great Britain. Henry uses ethos, pathos, and logos to show his clause for going to war with Britain.
...gives him some insight into his future. As he is walking away from the A & P he sees "Lengel in [his] place in the slot, checking the sheep through. His face was dark gray and his back stiff, as if he'd just had an injection of iron, and my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter" (p.37). Sammy begins his transition from adolescence into adulthood here. He realizes that if he stays at the A & P he may end up like Lengel or the other sheep. He wants more out of life and his fantasy about being Queenie's "unsuspected hero" (p.36) allows him to escape. Sammy comes to the conclusion that life is not going to be easy and he is going to make decisions for himself that the people around him will not necessarily support.
He criticizes his family and their background when he says, “when my parents have somebody over they get lemonade and if it’s a real racy affair, Schlitz in tall glasses with ‘They’ll do it every time’ cartoons stenciled on.” Sammy desires to move from a blue collar to a white collar family to differentiate him from his family. He shows his growing maturity when he says, “the girls who’d blame them, are in a hurry to get out, so I say ‘I quit’ to Lengal quick enough for them to hear, hoping they’ll stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero.” He wants to be noticed by the girls for his selfless act of quitting his job for them. His plan does not work though, and the girls leave him to face Lengal alone. Lengal confronts Sammy and says, “Sammy, you don’t want to do this to your mom and dad.” Sammy ponders Lengal’s comment and thinks to himself, “It’s true, I don’t. But it seems to me that once you begin a gesture it’s fatal not to go through with it.” Sammy has begun to reach maturity and now wants to make his own decisions concerning his future and how he spends
John Updike gives the reader an inside look into the adolescent mind of Sammy, which give the reader a better understanding of his personality. All of these literary devices enhance the meanings of the story's symbols as the boy's personality and view of his world move from content, to admiration, to resignation. Sammy, the first person narrator, plays an essential role in portraying an in depth viewpoint of the story. His portrayal of a typical teen working in a dead-end job, his thoughts and feelings are very obvious in the story "A & P."
Researching John Updike’s story, "A&P", I found many readers agreed that the main character Sammy is viewed as a hero or martyr for quitting his job at an A&P store in a northern beach town. I did, however, find that critics disagreed on why Sammy quit. Initially it appears that Sammy quits his job to impress girls who were reprimanded for wearing bathing suits in the A&P. Sammy did not ultimately quit his job to be the hero for three girls who happened to walk into this A&P. This is not just a story about a nineteen-year-old guy trying to impress a group of girls by quitting his job, but it is also a story describing in detail the day this nineteen-year-old realizes that sometimes, in the transition from boyhood to adulthood, one must take a stand and ultimately follow through with this affirmation of adulthood.
In the final analysis, it would seem that the most obvious explanation for why Sammy quits his job--the one that he implies--is actually the least plausible. While Sammy would like to portray himself as the fearless defender of the delicate sensibilities of innocent girls, the reality is that Sammy's motives in quitting have far more to do with his own sensibilities than with those of the three girls.
Sammy is stuck in that difficult transition between childhood and adulthood. He is a nineteen-year-old cashier at an A&P, the protagonist in a story with the same name. John Updike, the author of "A&P," writes from Sammy's point of view, making him not only the main character but also the first person narrator. The tone of the story is set by Sammy's attitude, which is nonchalant but frank--he calls things as he sees them. There is a hint of sarcasm in Sammy's thoughts, for he tends to make crude references to everything he observes. Updike uses this motif to develop the character of Sammy, as many of these references relate to the idea of "play."
Sammy is a 19-year-old boy conveying a cocky but cute male attitude. He describes three girls entering the A & P, setting the tone of the story. "In walk these three girls in nothing but bathing suits. There was this chunky one, with the two piece-it was bright green and the seams on the bra were still sharp and her belly was still pretty pale...there was this one, with one of those chubby berry-faces, the lips all bunched together under her nose, this one, and a tall one, with black hair that hadn't quite frizzed righ...
Sammy in “A&P” really turned me off as I was reading the short story. I really hated his negative attitude towards woman. He starts off by comparing a woman to a witch and thinking “if she'd been born at the right time they would have burned her over in Salem”. He also continues his disdain for females by commenting wondering if there is anything in a girl’s mind or “just a little buzz like a bee in a glassjar?”. I don’t know if Sammy was raised this way or because he is just a boy with ego issues that feels the need to look down upon woman. This sexist attitude is shown once again, when he feels the girls “owe him” after he heroically quits his job for them. This is a sense of entitlement that he thinks he deserves compensation from the girls
In the short story "A & P" written by John Updike, Sammy experiences an epiphany towards the end of the story where he looks back at the grocery store after he quit his job there. His boss was unsatisfied with the particular clothing a group of girls were wearing in his grocery store, causing his treatment of the girls to aggravate Sammy. Therefore, Sammy stepped in and confronted his boss about it and resulted in him quitting his job in order to gain attention from the girls. It was his hope that him quitting his job would cause the girls to alter their behavior and dress choices. However, Sammy is a part of the working class, being unemployed will have a negative financial impact on his life. Therefore, the romantic act he performed had zero
...s that Sammy is taking a stand and that Lengel cannot change his mind about quitting. When Sammy left the store, the girls where long gone. "His face was dark gray and his back stiff, as if he's just had an injection of iron, and my stomach kind of felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter." This quote illustrates that Sammy knows that his parents will not like the fact that he quit, but he realizes that he has to take charge with his life, and make his own chooses without being afraid of what his parents would think. He is very happy that he had taken a stand, and he let no one change it.
Two Works Cited In John Updike’s "A & P," Sammy is accused of quitting his job for childlike, immature reasons. Nathan Hatcher states, "In reality, Sammy quit his job not on a matter of ideals, but rather as a means of showing off and trying to impress the girls, specially Queenie" (37), but Sammy’s motive runs much deeper than that. He was searching for a sense of personal gain and satisfaction. By taking sides with the girls, he momentarily rises in class to meet their standards and the standards of the upper-class.
Sammy’s decision in the end to break away from the conformity that is in the A&P to establish himself is a raw truthful decision. He has chosen to follow his heart which Updike shows is what every person should do. This story is great for readers of all ages, because Sammy could be any person in modern contemporary society who is struggling to find themselves in a world dominated by conformity, rules, and standards of norms. Updike’s story is a powerful message to seek individualism. Although sometimes the road to self-identity is not known the journey getting there is worth all the while.