This never happens. It is important to note, however, that regardless if the girls heard him or not, Sammy was the hero because he followed through. He knew his life would change and he knew things would not be as he had imagined but he was willing to accept that. Like the narrator in "On the Rainy River," he does not realize the impact his choice will have on his life. Both characters reflect momentarily on their families as they make their decision. The narrator in "On the Rainy River" thinks of the slaughterhouse he worked in all summer and compared the direction of his life to that factory noting, "my life seemed to be collapsing toward slaughter" (O'Brien 43). He recognizes his lot in life stating that he was simply "an ordinary kid with all the ordinary dreams and ambitions, and all I wanted was to live the life I was born to - a mainstream life" (50-1). Sammy is also from a small town and this influences his thinking as well. His life seems to be ordinary as well. We know that Lengel knows his parents and asks Sammy if he is sure that he wants to do this to his parents. While this plays a part in his thinking, it does have any influence on his decision to quit the store....

In fact, he does not give much thought to this decision at all. He is too interested in thinking about the girls and what they might have to say about him than anything else. Life is ordinary - maybe - but our choices make us who we are.
On the Rainy River" and "The a&P" present us with portraits of young men on the brink of becoming adults. They are more interested in their immediate futures than they are their long-term futures and they make decisions based upon what others think of them. Both characters come from small towns where a sense of community is generally strong and often a contributing factor to decision making. Such is the case with each narrator, illustrating the unspoken strength of community. These choices shape who they are or, more significantly, shape who they will become. Both men realize at the end of each story that they have made choices, which they cannot change, and those choices have changed their lives.

Works Cited

O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway Books. 1990.

Updike, John. "A&P." The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. New York W.W. Norton and Company. 1981. pp. 1416-1421.