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Character Development In A & P

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John Updike’s short story “A & P” is the first-person narrator’s account of a life-changing experience that initiated the transition from the main character Sammy’s adolescence into adulthood. However, this first-step towards maturity and adulthood ultimately occurs at the conclusion of the story after the character development that Sammy undergoes throughout the story. Such character development, from the immature Sammy that is bored with his cashier job that Updike introduces to the readers at the opening of the story to the Sammy at the end of the story that takes an impulsive stand for himself and the girls, results from the constant inquiries of the narrator concerning the events transpiring around him in the town’s A & P store. Sammy’s awareness leads him to the realization that he must fight for a place in society, standing up for his beliefs and taking the initiative to move on from his job at the A & P to the better options that life has to offer, and this is the moment that brings the character to the start of his transition into adulthood. Therefore, in the short story “A & P,” Updike presents the readers with …show more content…

Sammy is first introduced to the readers as an immature nineteen through his thoughts and descriptions of the three girls. This main character, as well as the narrator of the story, takes a step towards outgrowing this stage of adolescence at the conclusion of the story, the result of Sammy’s questioning of the society and social classes that exist in his town. Because of this inquisitive attitude to society, Sammy comes to the realization that he must break away from the expectations of society in order to assume control of his own life. Updike suggest through his short story “A & P” that finding one’s place in society and questioning the beliefs and rules in which he lives is a necessity in the transition from adolescence into

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