I. Introduction People have been noted for feats of courage or nobility, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life, is a hero. In the short-story A&P by John Updike, Sammy is blinded from his responsibility by his spontaneous desire to become Queenie's "unsuspected hero" (1119).
II. Theme The theme in A&P, illustrated through Sammy's actions and defined by his consequence, is that people should think their thoughts through before acting upon them. A&P can be considered the coming-of-age story as the actions and development of Sammy, the adolescent cashier, change. As the story begins, Sammy has the typical mindset of a teenager, drooling over the girls that walk in the grocery store. Upon the closure, he hastily quits his job. Once Sammy has a chance to gather his thoughts, he noted how his "stomach kind of fell as [he] felt how hard the world was going to be"æhereafter" (1120).
Corner Grocery Store
John Updike with Bushes
Malham grocery storeSammy realizes that his life will be filled with more responsibilities now. When he "look[s] back in the big windows" (1120) of the store, his actions show he wishes he could go back and redo his mistake. Sammy's actions in the store were a result of his lack of thinking his choice through; he didn't have a clear view of the consequences until the end.
III. Conflict The main conflict in and backbone to the central idea in A&P is Man vs. Himself. Sammy in A&P ponders with the idea of whether to take up for the girls or respect the rules of his environment. He wants to be a hero in the eyes of the girls but feels he must finish what he starts. However, he makes a rash decision from reacting to the situation instead of thinking his thoughts through. After he hastily...