Sammy in John Updike's "A&P"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, on the surface of John Updike's short story "A&P", Sammy is rebelling against a conservative authority figure, which is his boss. The author points out that, on another layer of analysis, Sammy is rebelling against the expectations and wishes of his parents. The paper relates that Sammy is trying to break out of the oppressive, mundane, potentially dead-end community that he is stuck in. The author stresses that Sammy is defiant simply because he wants something meaningful for his life, which is not a character defect but a positive quality. The paper concludes that, by rebelling, Sammy does everything he can to attain his goal of accomplishing something better for himself.

From the Paper:

"Queenie and company had been the first group Sammy encountered who looked like they could be fellow rebels. They had an air of entitlement about them. The girls immediately drew his attention by looking fresh from the beach with "just a brush of sunburn", dressed merely in swimsuits, barefoot. Even if they didn't have an ulterior motive for their appearance, they certainly ruffled a few feathers around the store, which obviously kept Sammy observing. First, the scantily clad girls walked in and caused Sammy to be so distracted that he fumbled through the mundane procedures of ringing up a customer's groceries."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Detweiler, Robert. "John Updike" (1972). Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Anna Sheets. Vol. 27. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998. 322.
• Porter, M. Gilbert. "John Updike's 'A&P': The Establishment and an Emersonian Cashier." English Journal 61 (1972): 1155-58. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Anna Sheets. Vol. 27. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998. 320-21.
• "rebel." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1). Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, (c) Random House, Inc. 2006. 11 Nov. 2006. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rebel>
• Thompson, Corey Evan. "Updike's 'A&P'." Explicator 59.4 (2001): 215-16.
• Updike, John. "A&P." Portable Literature. Laurie Kirszner and Stephen Mandell. Boston: Wadsworth Publishers, 2004. 74-79.

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• Book Review # 99647 : "John Updike's "A&P"

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