Character evolution in "A&P" by Updike

Okoro

Sammy

The Evolution of Sammy

Kelechi Okoro

ENGL - 1302

Updike was clearly a master of his art as evidenced by his use of characters. Indeed, he told the story of his own evolution himself when he said "I began as a writer of light verse, and have tried to carry over into my serious or lyric verse something of the strictness and liveliness of the lesser form." [footnoteRef:2] The most poignant and impactful character to follow in the Updike story in terms of character evolution was Sammy, whose perspective is told in this story. There are three clear stages in Sammy's thought process as the bathing suit-clad girls enter, progress through and then exit the store. These stages are pushed along as far as Sammy is concerned based on the reactions and interactions with his coworkers including Stokesie and the penultimate scenario with Lengel, the manager. [2: Poetry Foundation. "John Updike: The Poetry Foundation." Poetry Foundation. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/john-updike (accessed October 20, 2013).]

The ways in which Sammy's focus and motivations shift in each of the three stages of the Updike story are palpable and extremely noticeable. This is first exemplified when Sammy takes his stand with Lengel near the end of the story, when he discovers how utterly pointless it probably was once using retrospection and introspection. The ending perhaps begs the question what Sammy's true motivations were, but the reader must decide for herself the true merit of the character. The cultural implications of all of the events are not hard to discover if one is aware and can contextualize the very different cultural and social times of early 1960's America. [footnoteRef:3] [3: Brown, Jeffrey. "Conversation: Archive Offers Revealing Look at John Updike | Art Beat | PBS NewsHour | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2010/06/conversation-updike.html (accessed October 20, 2013)]

Character Summary

There are three clear stages taken on by Sammy during the story. Each stage of this trinity reveals more about Sammy and reflects the development of this character by Updike. In the first segment, as the girls enter and saunter around the store, there is a clear case of ogling and staring that is undertaken by both Sammy and his coworker Stokesie. One specific example of this was clear when Sammy makes note of the fact that the straps on Queenie's suit are down and that her face is "prim." Sammy drives this point home by saying that "I suppose it's the only kind of face you can have." This retort demonstrates the special rapport that was built between these character and resonates throughout the story. Once Sammy and Stokesie were speaking in concert about the girls, Sammy used the phrase "hold me tight" in reference to the girls while at the same time remembering the fact that Stokesie was married with two children.

The second stage arrives rapidly when the girls eventually make their way up to the cash register and are eventually confronted by the manager Lengel for dressing improperly, at least by his (and much of the surrounding society's) standards just a few years removed from the very conservative, Stepford Wives-type existence that was the 1950's. Sammy expounds on this theme further by mentioning the fact that the girls and young women of that day would "generally put on a shirt or shorts or something before they got out of the car." He also mentions that he can see "two banks and the Congregational Church and the newspaper store and three real-estate offices," among other things. This exchange demonstrated Sammy's repressed sexual feelings and allows a window into his soul by revealing his internal shame and embarrassment.

Lengel's intense confrontation with the customers while he obviously dresses them down in front of Sammy, begins to have an significant impact on Sammy as Updike changed the pace of the story in a brisk manner. Sammy quickly ends the transaction and the second stage of his development begins to die. In an abrupt moment of revelation, he yanks off his apron and quits. Lengel tells him, perhaps in the manner of a medium or psychic, that he will regret what he is currently doing. Sammy is dismissive and he is sure to say that he quits within earshot of the girls as they leave the store.

The third stage of this development is realized when Sammy gets outside, realizes that the girls are already gone and that he perhaps will regret what he has just done given that he quit and now has nothing to show for it since the girls left. This stage represents an initiation into the unknown for Sammy, where taking a personal stand has left him confused and frightened.

Analysis

The story is set in the early 1960's, just a year or two removed from the cultural standards of 1950's America where conformity and prudence where highly valued. In this era, before the Vietnam War and before the cultural upheaval that came with it, the reaction by Lengel would probably have been shared by many of the older Americans in that area demonstrating a conservative approach to change and modification

. Obviously, though, the younger generation was of a different mind on the matter and was made clear by the reactions, statements and behaviors of both Sammy and Stokesie. The apparent brazenness of the girls to come into the store dressed as they were proved much the same point, as these women mostly likely were aware that dressing in a provocative manner was not the wise thing to do, but felt compelled to do it anyway. It was noted in the story that the women and girls of that day followed a custom that avoided being dressed in this fashion before they left their car after leaving the pool, lake or other swimming hole.