Moral Responsibility In John Updike's A & P

Sammy made the unjust choice of staring and ogling at the three girls. In addition to that, Sammy also creepily paid attention to even the most minute of details pertaining to the girls. He was also unjust for quitting the job that his parents helped him to get. The story hinted that Sammy did not have much of a future but rather his parents cared about his future more than him. Sammy was morally wrong for continuously staring and strangely interpreting the leader of the group’s upbringings, whom he dubbed Queenie. He also was disturbing for becoming aroused from Queenie taking a five-dollar bill out of the cleavage of her breasts and on top of that commenting on the occurrence. Sammy’s actions were unwise especially him quitting his job in an attempt to impress the three girls. Sammy appeared …show more content…
In addition to that, at the beginning of the story, Sammy looked like someone who never stands up for himself. For example, Sammy did not get his job on his own. Rather his parents helped him get the job without Sammy finding a job on his own. However, towards the end, he did what he believed was good and stood up for himself. At the beginning of the story, Sammy was more impulsive. When he quit his job, he was acting upon his impulse, not his intellect. But after when he quit, Sammy sincerely regretted his decision and feared what the future had to offer. The historical period for A&P is most likely the 1980s. Sammy alluded to the current year in the story when he mentioned that Stokesie would probably be the manager in the 1990s. Also if this historical context were an earlier period, then the three young girls who were walking around in bathing suits would be arrested or fined for public indecency. Sammy’s parents were probably old and wished not to accept any new changes such as relationships outside of marriage. His parents likely did not allow him to have a girlfriend before which is why Sammy lusted for the three girls especially