In John Updike’s story “A&P,” the reader is brought through a casual summer day of work at a store named “A&P.” The story is told by the perspective of a normal young worker, Sammy, and he brings the reader through the rather boring lifestyle of a cashier at a convenience store. On that specific day, there are three beautiful girls who walk in the store wearing clothing that was against the clothing policy. At first Sammy, as well as all the other employees, was enjoying the sight and taking it in as much as he could. After multiple instances with coworker and the three girls, it is shown that Sammy is the protagonist over the the shoppers, co-workers, and manager Lengel.
The three girls that enter the store may have been a pleasant and enjoyable …show more content…
Lengel quickly is introduced into the story, and right out of the gate he appears to be a unlikable person. The first moment the reader is introduced by Lengel, he does not hesitate at all to deliberately say, “Girls, this isn’t the beach” (199). This is creating an awkward atmosphere for everyone and it almost makes Sammy look like a bad employee. Lengrel goes on to say somewhat offensive statements like “We want you decently dressed when you come in here” (199). Even though Lengel is doing his job, he is taking it to a new extent that can be taken offensively to the girls. This does backfire and makes the girls offended, so Queenie replies, “We are decent” (199). It is understandable that Lengel has to do his job and make sure everyone is following the store’s policies, however there is a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it. Lengel’s actions were too aggressive and eventually led to having Sammy quit his job as an employee of A&P. Lengel definitely makes the worst impact on Sammy’s life in the story, and causes the most conflict for him. John Updike’s “A&P” is a very simple story, yet it still provides all the needed characteristics to be a story with quality characters, plot, and more. There are very few characters in the story that have a major contribution to the story, and we can easily tell that Sammy is the main protagonist. Sammy is no doubt the main character that the story is always following, and it is clear that everyone else is a protagonist because of how they make Sammy’s life even more
The three girls that enter the store may have been a pleasant and enjoyable …show more content…
Lengel quickly is introduced into the story, and right out of the gate he appears to be a unlikable person. The first moment the reader is introduced by Lengel, he does not hesitate at all to deliberately say, “Girls, this isn’t the beach” (199). This is creating an awkward atmosphere for everyone and it almost makes Sammy look like a bad employee. Lengrel goes on to say somewhat offensive statements like “We want you decently dressed when you come in here” (199). Even though Lengel is doing his job, he is taking it to a new extent that can be taken offensively to the girls. This does backfire and makes the girls offended, so Queenie replies, “We are decent” (199). It is understandable that Lengel has to do his job and make sure everyone is following the store’s policies, however there is a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it. Lengel’s actions were too aggressive and eventually led to having Sammy quit his job as an employee of A&P. Lengel definitely makes the worst impact on Sammy’s life in the story, and causes the most conflict for him. John Updike’s “A&P” is a very simple story, yet it still provides all the needed characteristics to be a story with quality characters, plot, and more. There are very few characters in the story that have a major contribution to the story, and we can easily tell that Sammy is the main protagonist. Sammy is no doubt the main character that the story is always following, and it is clear that everyone else is a protagonist because of how they make Sammy’s life even more