tells the tale of Sammy

tells the tale of Sammy

apThe short story “A & P,” by John Updike, tells the tale of Sammy, a nineteen year old boy who works in a small grocery store on the East-Coast, called an A & P. He works in the store as a check out clerk until a warm summer day when three girls wearing only wearing their bathing suits came into the store to buy herring snacks and sour cream for one girl’s mother. All was going well until–the owner of the store enters and puts down the girls for coming in the store in inappropriate attire. In a pointless heroic move to try and win over the girls; Sammy quits his job to protest the treatment of the girls. This “selfless” act was in vain, for when he left the store hoping the girls would be there waiting for him, they were gone. Updike has painted a perfect picture of what is in the inner mind of a young man–SEX. He does this by the detailed description of each of the three girls and a “heroic” act to save the day.