Dynamic Character In John Updike's A & P

Sammy, the young character in John Updike 's "A & P" is truly a dynamic character. At the beginning of this short story, Sammy seems to be maintaining the status quo in his job as a checker at the local grocery store in a small New England beach town. He is content until the day that three young women walk into the grocery store in just their bathing suits, no shirts and no shoes. Immediately, Sammy 's world is turned upside down and Sammy will undergo a sudden, dynamic change that even surprises him.

Sammy is bored, with life as a checker at the A & P. He despises the men and women in the grocery store, referring to housewives as "sheep pushing their carts down the aisle" and laborers as "freeloaders". (Kirszner & Mandell, 126). He refers
He is stuck in a dull world, with the "sheep" and the "freeloaders". His compares himself to his co-worker, Stokesie, by claiming "Stokesie 's married, with two babies chalked up on his fuselage already, but as far as I can tell that 's the only difference". (Kirszner & Mandell, 127). Stokesie 's goal is to become the manager of the store. If Sammy continued on his course at the A & P, he took would end up just like Stokesie. Sammy wants to be free spirited, he wants to break rules. When the store manager, Lengel, approaches the girls and confronts them for wearing swimsuits, Sammy begins to break free of his dull world. He wants to show the girls that he does not stand with Lengel, he stands with them. He quits quickly and without thought, saying "I quit" loud enough for the girls to hear them. He wants them to hear him, he wants them to realize that he is not one of the store workers, not one of the sheep or the
He feels that Sammy does not realize what troubles lie ahead for him. He states "moments after Sammy dramatically surrenders his job at the cash register to protest the treatment of the three girls in swim suits who have broken the store 's unwritten dress code, we may rejoice in the condescending yet charming irony of his naive conclusion: "I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter." Sammy surely overrates the harm he has done to his prospects". (Studies in Short Fiction, 315). Mr. Dessner obviously does not feel that Sammy has harmed his life or his future in any way. However, Sammy lives in a small town with only a few businesses. He has quit his job without notice, a job with one of his parents ' oldest friends. He will have difficulty obtaining a new job. He might end up as one of the "freeloaders" that he detests. Or worse, he might end up a