What Is The Theme Of Coming Of Age In John Updike's A & P

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In the story "A& P" by John Updike readers are met with the dialogue of the main character, the protagonist, Sammy. This story screams "coming of age"; we have Sammy, our nineteen-year-old protagonist, who works in a grocery store as a clerk, in what we learn to be a small town. John Updike makes way for the readers to connect with Sammy through this transition as he breaks away from routine and expectations and makes his first true step into discovering who he is and what he wants from life. Sammy doesn't identify with the other characters in the story or the people he says within the town through the store window; this is a crucial part in Sammy coming of age and discovering himself, it's also clear that Sammy doesn't see anyone as happy …show more content…

John Updike uses a balance between round characters, Sammy and Queenie, with flat characters, Lengel and Stokesie, it's the pull between what we can connect to: Sammy and his need to grow and expand, Queenie with her independence, leadership and confidence and Lengel and Stokesie's routine and adaptation to what is, creating a realistic balance to the world Updike has created. It's through character description that we are also given a better sense of what Sammy is feeling, as he refers to the people in his town and the store as 'sheep'. Everything is portrayed as routine, the people are categorized as together, like herds of sheep. John Updike makes it clear that Sammy's character isn't associating himself for those within the store or the town but also that he is unaware of how to be anything more. It's the three girl's characters, especially that of Queenie, that fully develop Sammy's wants and needs, showing him that more exist that what he has ever known. Quitting his job at the A&P, doubting it, wanting to take it back: "But it seems to me that once you begin a gesture it's fatal not to go through with it" (23)., begin afraid of what is to come, is the break in the cycle and the true development that he can be more than what is. As readers, we hold us breathe in the concluding moments, unease and yet relieved that Sammy is more than just a

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