Am I Sammy?

I first read John Updike's "A&P" about a year ago, in Ms. G's writing class. We read it as an example of description, and focused mainly on Sammy's description of Queenie. We concluded that while his description seems a little odd and creepy--not focusing on the parts one would normally describe--it was well-written and well-executed.

With this backround in mind, I sat down to read the story thinking that I wouldn't need to pay much attention, having read the important part already. But as I reread it I came to a slightly shocking discovery: Sammy and I are very similar in our thought process. Very similar, in fact. This shocked and astounded me, for I was of the impression that Sammy was lewd, perverted, and a chauvinistic pig. Then I realized I was describing myself.

I kid, I kid. That's not how I am. But still, the fact remains that Sammy and I are more alike than I had thought. Let me explain.

From the outset of the story Sammy displays certain attitudes and views about the people around him and his surroundings. He calls the customers in the store "sheep" (2) and paints a picture of them as dull, uninteresting, conformist, and orthodox. He says, "I bet you could set off dynamite in a A&P and the people would by and large keep reaching...." (5). And the reactions of the sheep at the sight of three scantily clad girls walking down the aisle is to look at them, do a double take, then pretend nothings out of the ordinary. This is the reaction I would normally expect out of a modern orthodox priest or an Islamic fanatic, not from everyday people. Sammy notes all of these reactions, and files it all under the term "sheep" that he has given to the populous in general.

Throughout the whole story, Sammy is contemptuous of the sheep, in his interactions with the witch at the checkout and his description of the "old party in baggy gray pants" (11). He even seems disdainful of his friend Stokesie, thinking, "Stokesie's married, with two babies chalked up on his fuselage already" (8). This statement connotes the feeling that Stokesie's already over the hill, so to speak, even though he's only three years older than Sammy.

I listen to Rage Against The Machine and System Of A Down. Need I say more? If I do, RATM is well known as an anti-conformist group and for their unconventional ideals, and SOAD no less so. I try not to move with the flow, to be different, but that can difficult sometimes, as Sammy would agree.

Sammy finds himself in a difficult position. From what Lengel suggests, Sammy and his family need this job, and the only way for Sammy to keep it is to conform to the ideals of Lengel. So Sammy is confronted with the unenviable choice between the job he needs, and the ideals he holds. It seems as though Sammy already recoils at the idea of working at the A&P, otherwise he wouldn't have been so quick to quit the jobs, with not a thought as to the consequences until after the action. And he's right when he says, "it seems to me that once you begin a gesture it's fatal no to go through with it." Once you decide to be different, to be a nonconformist, it becomes difficult to go mainstream, as is often seen in the music industry. Once you become a sell-out, few people who knew of you before the mainstreaming will respect you.

Some people think that Sammy only quit because he wanted to impress Queenie. There's some truth to this, I won't deny that. However, even if this is the case, so what? The three girls, Queenie especially, expected to attract the attention of men, and that's why they dressed as they did. But even if Sammy quits because of the girls, does that not also say something good of his character? He sees a woman embarrassed, and he decides to stick up for her, to show Lengel what he thought of his treatment of her. My father raised me to never hit a lady, under any circumstances, to always open the door for a lady, and to never treat them badly. Just the thought of a man abusing a woman infuriates me, and I dislike Lengel's lack of tact when it comes to Queenie. I think, in a similar situation, I would have acted in a very similar way.

So what have we learned? We've learned that David thinks of himself as a nonconformist, and that he likes RATM and SOAD, and now you know two more acronyms for bands you might not even listen to. Hasn't this been a productive time? (796)