Character Analysis of Sammy in "A&P"

The first 200 words of this essay...

Jessica Logan

Eng 12

Character Analysis of Sammy in "A&P"

John Updike's contemporary short story "A&P" is narrated by Sammy, a nineteen year old checkout clerk at a local grocery store. The story focuses on a specific experience concerning three young girls who enter the store. Through Sammy's observation and analysis of the girls and the other patrons, the reader is able to better understand Sammy's personal character. Sammy is immature, boldly chauvinistic, and bored with his mediocre surroundings. However, by the end of the story, Sammy does undergo a preliminary "initiation into maturity"(14), placing his outlook for the future and old way of life in question.

Besides the obvious examples given throughout the short story, Updike also provides subtle clues of Sammy's immaturity. As Sammy leaves the store after quitting, he describes walking through the door "in [his] white shirt that [his] mother ironed the night before"(19). It can be assumed that he is finished with high school and has been working for at least a year. He is still allowing his mother to take care of him or "baby" him. At nineteen, Sammy is more than capable of performing such a