A&P Character Analysis of Sammy
A&P
Sammy, is the main character; the story he tells takes place in the summer. A&P author John Updike describes Sammy as a typical working class teenager that takes notice of three young ladies walking into the grocery store where he works. Sammy notices everything around him, he's very observant, and he tells the reader everything about the girls’ physical appearance. Theres a transition of character as he changes from the beginning of the story where he objectifies the young ladies to the end where he ends up humanizing them.
Sammy is a nineteen year old checkout clerk at a local grocery store. He has a weird attitude towards the three young girls who enter the store wearing only bathing suits. The employee observes and judges every single inch of the girl’s physical appearance. “She held her head so high her neck coming out of those wide shoulders, looked kind of stretched, but I didn't mind.” He treats them as if they were simply objects. He also starts to build an image about Queenie’s personal life, he says “Her father and the other men were standing around in ice-cream coats and bow ties” he makes it seem like she comes from an upper class family which tells us more about his personal life. Hes a working class teen that doesn't come from a family with a lot of money he says “When my parents have somebody over they get lemonade and if it’s a real racy affair Schlitz in tall glasses...”.
The young employee changes his mindset in the story by humanizing these three girls after he objectifies them. The transition begins when he says “Poor kids, I began to feel sorry for them, they couldn’t help it.”; Right there and then the girls become humanized. They no longer had power over these men because of their sexual desires, their power passes. Sammy starts to feel sorry for them because he knows that they don't know any better, by the reaction of the men that he works with he realizes he doesn't want to grow up to be like them. He wants to prove that
Sammy, is the main character; the story he tells takes place in the summer. A&P author John Updike describes Sammy as a typical working class teenager that takes notice of three young ladies walking into the grocery store where he works. Sammy notices everything around him, he's very observant, and he tells the reader everything about the girls’ physical appearance. Theres a transition of character as he changes from the beginning of the story where he objectifies the young ladies to the end where he ends up humanizing them.
Sammy is a nineteen year old checkout clerk at a local grocery store. He has a weird attitude towards the three young girls who enter the store wearing only bathing suits. The employee observes and judges every single inch of the girl’s physical appearance. “She held her head so high her neck coming out of those wide shoulders, looked kind of stretched, but I didn't mind.” He treats them as if they were simply objects. He also starts to build an image about Queenie’s personal life, he says “Her father and the other men were standing around in ice-cream coats and bow ties” he makes it seem like she comes from an upper class family which tells us more about his personal life. Hes a working class teen that doesn't come from a family with a lot of money he says “When my parents have somebody over they get lemonade and if it’s a real racy affair Schlitz in tall glasses...”.
The young employee changes his mindset in the story by humanizing these three girls after he objectifies them. The transition begins when he says “Poor kids, I began to feel sorry for them, they couldn’t help it.”; Right there and then the girls become humanized. They no longer had power over these men because of their sexual desires, their power passes. Sammy starts to feel sorry for them because he knows that they don't know any better, by the reaction of the men that he works with he realizes he doesn't want to grow up to be like them. He wants to prove that