This is where Sylvia begins to wonder how the amount of money a toy costs on Fifth Ave could be used to help her family. She explains that if she asked her mother she would say “Thirty-five dollars would pay for the rent and the piano bill too” (Bambara 59). Among several things, only thirty-five dollars could make an enormous difference in Sylvia’s family. They would need it to have a roof over their heads, compared to the people on Fifth Ave who would use that money to buy a toy. She then beings to question “Who are these people that spend that much for performing clowns and $1000 for toy sailboats?
For example, the boy in Araby barely knew the girl he claimed to be in love with as he specifically states “I had never spoken to her, but a few casual words…” and “I did not know whether I would ever speak to her or not.” This reveals that the narrator did not know Mangan’s sister personally, rather he knew only her as a desirable object. In comparison, Sammy from A&P can also be critically judged for his behavior toward women in the sense that he was very presumptuous about the girls who walked into the supermarket in bikinis. Sammy desired the girls’ attention desperately and presumed that he deserved it. As a result, Sammy quit his job because he was “hoping they’ll (the girls) stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero.” Referring to himself as a hero also implies another wrongful presumption that Sammy had, in which he is subconsciously misogynic because the girls did not need to be saved and do not owe Sammy anything. Sammy could be judged by readers for his presumptions about the girls in A&P.
In conclusion Sammy views the A&P store in a rather negative way, and when you look at something in negative way it’s almost impossible to find anything positive about it. When looking at Sammy’s perspective the relationship of his parents and Lengel is what was holding him back from quitting. But because of the conflict that Lengel had with the young girls Sammy now has an excuse to tell his parents on why he quit his horrid job. Sammy took full opportunity of it and never looked
In this story Sammy makes many mistakes that people learn from in their teenage years. Sammy would be considered an adolescent because of how he thinks. He does not have control of what he thinks, but he can control if those thoughts consume him or not. Just like most teenage boys, Sammy thinks about girls. When three young girls in bathing suits walk in the grocery store where he works, he cannot stop thinking about them.
“However, Sammy also identifies with Stokesie in some ways and sees him as a cautionary example of how he himself might end up”, His negative connotation with the life of these characters are enough for him to start to put his job into consideration. (SparkNotes3). From Sammy’s views of Lengel and Stokesie; a drone and a want to be a drone. One can see Sammy’s beliefs oppose the beliefs of an ideal worker to corporate; get a job and climb the working latter to success.” The sheep pushing their carts down the aisle”, in this quote he shows his mentality towards the masses (Updike, par.2). If you are the sheep you are not aware and are getting played.
After Sammy begins to quit Lengel states the recklessness of this decision. Thinking to himself, “it's true I don't. But it seems to me once you start a gesture it's fatal not to go through with it” Sammy realizes his heroic gesture isn't worth it, but once you start something you can't stop in the middle. Sammy takes off his apron, folds it and places it on his third counter slot. Watching with astonishment, Lengel says, “‘You'll feel this for the rest of your life.’” Sammy’s decision is stated by all as a terrible mistake.
However, Sammy doesn’t realize that all choices have consequences. First, Sammy just like any other male teenager he felt responsible to protect the three girls that he got attracted to and by so he decided to quit. To his thinking, he was trying to bring the
The chauvinism can be seen when he compares the mind of women to that of ‘little buzz like a bee in a jar.’ There is also the element where the character dehumanizes the girls by finding fault in them and the way they dress. It is the opinion of this paper that this should not be the case. It is through the act of Chivalry that Sammy tries to impress the girls. When the manager of the store refutes their dressing, Sammy pretends to be angry and quits his job in the effort to impress the ladies. The ladies leave without taking a lot of consideration to what he had
For the reason, that in the 1950’s it was not common to see people walk around in their bathing suits. The girls in bathing suits also caused Sammy to get distracted and start thinking in s sexual manner. -Climax: The climax in the story is when Sammy quits his job. Sammy quitted his job because he did not like how Lengel was treating the girls in the bathing suits -Resolution: The resolution takes place at the end of the story, when Sammy watches his ex boss through the windows doing his old job. Sammy began to feel that by quitting his job, will make things more complicated for him in the future.
Sammy displays his maturity through his strong morals by refusing to work in a profession where customers are degraded. Sammy, a cashier at A+P, is like a sheep. He is at the lowest level of employment as an obedient and docile employee. However, Sammy is horrified when Lengel, his manager, makes a rude comment towards three young ladies dressed in bathing suits. Sammy is troubled by the manner in which Lengle spoke to those girls.