Summary Of John Updike's A & P

In John Updike’s story “A&P” a man named Sammy makes some galant life changing decisions. If it wasn’t for those three girls that walked into the A&P that day Sammy would still be sitting behind the the counter at the cash register debating what to do with his life. Sammy couldn 't take the disrespect his boss was giving the customers anymore. Sammy gained a lot of respect for the opposite sex because of his boss 's actions and how the three girls reacted to them, some of which made him a protagonist.

One reason Sammy gains respect for the opposite sex is from the disrespect that the three girls get from Lengel. It all started as the girls were explaining the reason for them being in the store and Lengel replied with, “That 's alright. But this isn’t the beach” (203). Lengel shows a lot of disrespect when he says, “We want you decently dressed when you come in here” (203). Then the girls comeback by saying, “We are decent” (203). Even though it was store policy to have your shoulders covered Lengel shouldn’t have embarrassed the girls like that and Sammy really took note of

He allegedly quit his job for the disrespect that his boss was giving three innocent girls who happened to be wearing bathing suits when there mom asked them to go into the store for some snacks. He was brave and a big hero for what he did in this story. After what Lengel said to the girls Sammy protested and said, “The girls, and who’d blame them, are in a hurry to get out, so I say ‘I quit’ to Lengel quick enough for them to hear, hoping they’ll stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero” (204). The girls just kept on walking though as if they didn’t hear anything. When Lengel finally heard what Sammy said Lengel replied with, “Did you say something Sammy?” (204) Sammy went ahead and repeated himself, “I said I quit. You didn’t have to embarrass them” (204). As the protagonist Sammy really stuck to his gut feeling and did the right