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AP

AP The short story A&P written by John Updike takes place in a small town grocery store just north of Boston. The story is being portrayed through the eyes of Sammy. Sammy is a nineteen year old who works there as a checker. One Thursday afternoons the store is empty for the most part. The only people that inter the store are old women or women with six children whom he refers both to as sheep, when three girls walk in dressed with nothing more than bathing suits. This catches his eye and he watches them closely and studies each one of them with great detail. He give the leader of the girls the name "Queenie" for the way she carries herself and the way the others follow. Sammy knows that they are not dressed according to the stores guidelines but makes no effort to say anything until his manager Lengel steps in. Because of this there are consequences at stake. The moral to the story is to stand up for what you think is right even though there are positive and/or negative consequences to consider. Queenie is confronted by Lengel at the check-out counter for the way they are dressed which causes her and the others to blush. In responds to this she says "We weren’t doing any shopping. We just came in for the one thing." Lengel still tells them that they aren’t decently dressed and cause a big embarrassing scene for the girls. Queenie stands up for them by saying "We are decent,". Lengel feels that even though they are a small group of harmless teenage girls picking up an item that one of their parents had sent for, they were causing a scene and violating the company policy. He has a job as the manager and it is his duty to abide by the rules. He states that "Girls, this isn’t the beach." "We want you decently dressed when you come in here." He allows them to make the purchase but also says, "After this come in here with your shoulders covered. It’s our policy." On the other hand Sammy feels that Lengel was wrong for his actions and tells him that he is quitting. In this he is trying to take up for the girls. Sammy says, "You didn’t have to embarrass them." Sammy is acting out as if he were the hero and was protecting the girls. He knows that by him quitting he and his parents were going to be hurt, but he felt it was right. At the end of the story Sammy says, " and my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter." In conclusion, John Updike is teaching the reader that the moral to the story is to stand up for what you think is right. Queenie felt she and the others were not in the wrong by the way they were dressed. Sammy thought he was doing right by taking up for the girlseven though it cast him his job. Lengel thought he was doing right by following the company rules and guidelines but he also lost a valued worker. In theses scenarios the author is trying to support is idea so the reader can have a better understanding. Bibliography:

Word Count: 580