The Dramatic Teenager

In A&P, John Updike uses the first-person narrator, Sammy, a 19-year-old young man
who is also an employee at the A&P. Sammy, a teenager, provides the reader with a limited point
of view. He tells the truth as he sees it, but like any teenager, he sees many adults as unwise and
‘laid back. The author depicts Sammy as the narrator purposively to show how he grows
consistently throughout the story. He complains about uniformity, conformity, and what he terms
as the dullness of the adults and the community at large. He mocks conformity, and it is evident
that he has also conformed at some point in his life, but he is tired. Over the course of the story,
he progresses from just complaining to doing something to change his life. In this passage,
Sammy’s point of view changes, and he progresses from complaining about what he thinks is
wrong about his society to actually acting and quitting his job, a decision he immediately regrets.
Updike uses a first-person naïve point of view to depict the emotions and thoughts of
Sammy, a teenager. The reader gets to understand the story through the main character’s eyes. It
becomes necessary to use the naïve point of view to demonstrate Sammy’s coming of age.
Although limited, the selected point of view enables the reader to understand Sammy’s view of
the world around him. He is willing to quit his job because of what he finds as unfair treatment
towards the girls. He tells Lengel, “you didn’t have to embarrass them” (Updike, 1962, p. 4). He
is disappointed that Lengel treats the girls in an unfair manner just based on their choice of
dressing.
Sammy is a typical teenager who engages in actions that are not well thought out. He acts
at the spur of the moment. He quits his job to impress the girls, who are somewhat unimpressed
by his actions. At the beginning of the passage, he notes, “The girls, and who’d blame them, are

3
in a hurry to get out, so I say “I quit” to Lengel quick enough for them to hear, hoping they’ll stop
and watch me, their unsuspected hero” (Updike, 1962, p. 4). He is just a naïve teenager who
wants to impress strangers. He speaks loudly and tells Lengel that he quits his job. He wants
them to hear and maybe applaud or show approval for his actions. Approve his ‘bold’ move.
However, they are unconcerned and do not even give him any attention. The author shows the
reader the mind of a teenager. Through Sammy, it shows that sometimes teenagers can be
irrational ad engage in actions with little logic.
Updike uses stylistic devices throughout this passage to further explain Sammy’s thoughts
and actions. There are several examples of metaphors used in the passage. For instance, in
exposing Sammy’s observations, he writes, “His face was dark gray and his back stiff, as if he’d
just had an injection of iron” (Updike, 1962, p. 5). Here, he states that Lengel continues working
strong as if he had just received an iron injection. This is a metaphor o imply that his energy was
rejuvenated. Activities at the store continued normally. At this moment, he realizes that he could
have made a bad decision. The girls he wanted to impress had left. His act of heroism is thus
unnoticed. His parents will soon learn that he quit the job of his own volition. Lengel was not
feeling the loss of him as an employee. He thought that Lengel would be miserable after he quits
and would probably come after him urging him to take back the job. Unfortunately, the opposite
happens as Lengel rolls up his sleeves and continues serving customers. He, therefore, had not
achieved his goal. He realized that he had failed miserably.
Further, Updike uses symbols to illustrate Sammy’s level of immaturity. Sammy uses the
word “sheep” to refer to the adult customers at the store. He says, “I could see Lengel in my
place in the slot, checking the sheep through” (Updike, 1962, p. 5). Here, he insinuates that the
customers were blindly following the crowd. Their conformity baffles him, and that is why he

4
complains about their behavior throughout the course of the story. His choice of words and bias
towards customers make him an unreliable narrator. He behaves just like any typical teenager.
He uses words recklessly, disagrees with adults, and makes impromptu decisions without first
critically analyzing the impact they will have on his life. He also acts in total disregard of his
parent’s wishes. Despite the fact that Lengel warns him against disappointing his parents, he
pushes through with his plans.
Sammy also uses similes to describe the behavior of customers at the store. He says about
them, “A couple of customers that had been heading for my slot begin to knock against each
other, like scared pigs in a chute” (Updike, 1962, p. 4). He compares the customers to scared
pigs. He still holds himself in high regard. Typical of any teenager, he feels that he plays a very
important role at the store. This feeling is what triggered him to quit as a way of ‘making’ a
statement. He wanted the customers as well as Lengel to know that, unlike everyone else at the
store, he would not conform. Lengel understands that Sammy is just a teenager; he calmly talks
sense into him. Lengel and Sammy’s parents had been friends. They would be disappointed in
their son’s behavior. However, oblivious of the implications, Sammy still insists that he will quit.
Personification is widely used in the passage to explain how Sammy makes his grand exit
after quitting his job. The author writes, “the door heaves itself open” (Updike, 1962, p. 5). In
this context, the door heaves, and heaving refers to raising with effort. It is an act that only an
animal or person can do. A door is an inanimate object and therefore cannot heave. In any case,
an automatic door opens with less effort and does not heave. However, to dramatize the way in
which actions take place after what Sammy thinks is a big announcement, the author artistically
describes the opening of the door. This choice of words creates an interesting scene. The reader
can almost imagine how the door opens as Sammy leaves the store for the last time. All this is in

5
Sammy’s imagination. He still regards himself very highly and was expecting to meet the girls at
the parking lot waiting for him so that they could celebrate his heroic act. This, however, does
not happen.
Personification is also used again in the passage when the author writes, “outside the
sunshine is skating around on the asphalt” (Updike, 1962, p. 5). Skating is a playful word.
Updike suggests that the heat rising from the sun is wavering like in a kind of motion. The
playful choice of words is used to ease the tension that starts to build up after Sammy realizes
that quitting may not have been the best decision. Additionally, in the last paragraph of the
passage, Sammy says, “My stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to
me hereafter” (Updike, 1962, p. 5). It becomes apparent to the narrator that the world is not kind.
The world is personified in this context as he starts to comprehend the impact of his decisions. In
the parking lot, the narrator realizes that his parents would be disappointed in his actions, and the
store will still continue running even in his absence. He makes a stand and has to experience the
full consequences that come with that.
Overall, Updike uses the first-person point of view and several literary devices in the
passage to depict the sudden growth that Sammy experiences in the passage. He moves from
carelessly quitting his job because he feels that Lengel has embarrassed some girls to quickly
realizing that his actions would hurt him in the future. The first-person naïve narrative allows the
reader to enter into Sammy’s thoughts and observe his fears over the uncertain future. On the one
hand, he wants to impress some girls at the store, and on the other hand, he knows that quitting
the job will haunt him in the future. Like the teenager that he is, he still goes ahead and quits. He
proudly states that once someone starts something, it is only prudent o go through with it.

6
Sammy suddenly realizes that his job is important, but he has already lost it, albeit arrogantly,
and must suffer the consequences.

7

References
Updike, J. (1961). A&P (1st ed., pp. 4-5). Pigeon Feathers.