A & P By John Updike Character Analysis Essay

Johns Updike short story, A & P, is about a young man, Sammy, learning about the consequences of his actions. Updike creates a first-person narrative for Sammy and he plays as the main character. So, we read his thoughts and know of his feelings. Updike gives Sammy traits that shows the audience that he is coming to age. In Updike short story, Sammy is a nineteen-year-old, that have negative view of people in his town at which causes him to desire individuality and effect his decision making.

Sammy has a very sarcastic and witty personality. Like most teens, he judges everyone that catches his eye, which he refers to them in a negative way. Moreover, Sammy believes that everyone acts and dress the same, and he totally hates that. In the beginning, Sammy gets in a small altercation with a customer, because Sammy rang up her crackers an addition time. Sammy call the woman a "Witch". Sammy thought in his mind, “… if she’d been born at the right time they would …show more content…
Notably, we learn very quickly that Sammy desires individualism from his society. Sammy feels there is a problem in his society, because everyone is the same. He later decides to do something about it. Sammy hate the fact that Lengel is verbally attacking the ladies, and this is a problem to Sammy. He decided to protest his boss, Sammy speaks out, " You didn't have to embarrass them, (Updike 23). He also decided he would be the ladies " unsuspected hero". Which did not turn out the way he expected. So, though maybe if he yells, “I quit,” he would get the reaction from legal and the ladies that he was looking for, but that wasn’t the case. “But it seems to me that once you begin a gesture it’s fatal not to go through with it, (Updike 23), thought Sammy after his big moment. Shortly after, Sammy learn that small things can impact decision making at which can have