Adolescence in John Updike’s “a&P”
Adolescence in John Updike’s “A&P”
John Updike captures a day in the life of a young teenage boy named Sammy whose adolescence gets the best of him. Sammy works at a grocery store and is employed by old-fashioned store manager, Lengel. Sammy encounters three young girls in suggestive swim suits at the store. To the manger this was very distasteful and inappropriate for girls this age. Sammy’s heightened hormones and fixation for the girls gave him a sense of recklessness as he defended the girls after Lengel insults them. Sammy was not thinking ahead to what his parents would say or what he would do to make money for the rest of the summer. Sammy acted on impulse when he felt that Lengel embarrassed the girls. Sammy’s adolescent thinking was demonstrated in the story when he said “The girls, and who’d blame them, are in a hurry to get out, so I say “I quit” to Lengel quick enough from them to hear, hoping they’ll stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero” (Updike 20). Being an adolescent Sammy believed that this would make him stand out to the girls and be liked by them for quitting his job on their behalf. The only person Sammy made a impression on was Lengel. It wasn’t heroics Lengel seen in Sammy. It was immaturity. Lengel is an older gentlemen and a successful man. He seems to know why Sammy was defending the girls. Lengel who was once in Sammy’s shoes and knows what it is like to be a young, immature and lustful boy. He knows how Sammy’s parents are going to react to him losing his job because he is a friend of the family. In “A&P”, Lengel made the comment, “You’ll feel this for the rest of your life” (Updike 20). This quote just shows that when Lengel was an adolescent he probably made a mistake in his life that he would take back if he could and does not want Sammy to make the same kind of mistake. Sammy did not seem to take much pride in his job. He longed to be out on the beach, eating ice cream and chasing girls
John Updike captures a day in the life of a young teenage boy named Sammy whose adolescence gets the best of him. Sammy works at a grocery store and is employed by old-fashioned store manager, Lengel. Sammy encounters three young girls in suggestive swim suits at the store. To the manger this was very distasteful and inappropriate for girls this age. Sammy’s heightened hormones and fixation for the girls gave him a sense of recklessness as he defended the girls after Lengel insults them. Sammy was not thinking ahead to what his parents would say or what he would do to make money for the rest of the summer. Sammy acted on impulse when he felt that Lengel embarrassed the girls. Sammy’s adolescent thinking was demonstrated in the story when he said “The girls, and who’d blame them, are in a hurry to get out, so I say “I quit” to Lengel quick enough from them to hear, hoping they’ll stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero” (Updike 20). Being an adolescent Sammy believed that this would make him stand out to the girls and be liked by them for quitting his job on their behalf. The only person Sammy made a impression on was Lengel. It wasn’t heroics Lengel seen in Sammy. It was immaturity. Lengel is an older gentlemen and a successful man. He seems to know why Sammy was defending the girls. Lengel who was once in Sammy’s shoes and knows what it is like to be a young, immature and lustful boy. He knows how Sammy’s parents are going to react to him losing his job because he is a friend of the family. In “A&P”, Lengel made the comment, “You’ll feel this for the rest of your life” (Updike 20). This quote just shows that when Lengel was an adolescent he probably made a mistake in his life that he would take back if he could and does not want Sammy to make the same kind of mistake. Sammy did not seem to take much pride in his job. He longed to be out on the beach, eating ice cream and chasing girls