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“Growing up is a process where people started to think and act with maturity.” Everyone has different levels of maturity in themselves. Sammy, our protagonist from the short story “A&P” goes through a development of maturity through his actions and his thoughts. Updike reveals Sammy to be a cashier at A&P a grocery store in a small town. We first get to know Sammy through his observant thoughts and remarks about the customers in the store especially on the day when three girls decide to walk into the store with nothing but bathing suits on. Eventually the store manager notices the girls and refuses to sell to them and asks that they leave because of their lack of clothes. In an act of stupidity or heroism, Sammy stands up for the girls and impulsively quits his job. Thus, a comparison of Sammy’s social and psychological maturity before and after the event of the girls walking into the store reveals Sammy maturing.
In the short story “A&P” the character Sammy can be found thinking of scornful and snobbish thoughts towards the customers. The insight to Sammy’s thoughts are important as they represent his immaturity when he labels and patronizes the customers that come into A&P. The first example of what Sammy thinks about his customers is when he refers to one of them as a “witch about fifty wiyh rouge on her cheekbones and no eyebrows” despite the fact that he made the error of ringing up one of her groceries twice and deserving her scolding (Updike Pg.1). He then proceeds to think that if she was born in the right era that she would have been burnt in Salem. This shows that Sammy is unwilling to admit that he deserves her attitude and is irresponsible for being distracted on the job. Sammy’s immaturity is also shown when he refers to some of the other customers as “house slaves” instead of housewives (Updike Pg.1). The use of the term “slaves” is rude and derogatory. Additionally, Sammy’s portrayal of customers as “sheep” who are busy with their shopping reduces them from people to animals (Updike Pg.2). These examples show us that Sammy is scornful of the customers and has a likelihood to disregard other people. His rude attitude, childishness and his treatment of life as a joke shows that Sammy is still immature.
While Sammy shows immaturity in the beginning of “A&P”, the important event when the three girls in bathing suits walk into the supermarket change him gradually. Sammy realizes that he is more than physically attracted to the girls, specifically the one he calls Queenie. This is shown when he is first distracted by the girls walking in followed by his description of certain areas of their bodies. Sammy explains Queenie being more than pretty when her swimsuit slips off her shoulders and the slow manner that Queenie turns makes his “stomach rub the inside of his apron” (Updike Pg.1). However, Sammy’s physical fascination with the girls also ends up with him rashly quitting his job in an attempt to impress the girls thus showing his immaturity. Even so, by using the girls, the author seems to suggest that they are meant to show Sammy maturing because his physical attraction and attention to the girls is proof that he is psychologically maturing.
In the end we finally see Sammy gain maturity when he realises what he had just done - the foolish act of quitting his job. He also sees that the moment you start a gesture, it is almost wrong to not go through with it. It is at this moment when Sammy understands what he had just done was careless and a mistake but is unable to go back and undo it because of personal pride. This shows that Sammy is now able to tell the difference between right and wrong and therefore regrets what he has done. Though it can be thought that the deeper meaning of Sammy quitting his job is a rebellion against social rules and requirements because after he quits his job, Sammy was able to see that the girls were unaware of his “heroic” act thus leaving him empty handed. The ultimate moment of Sammy’s maturity is when he feels how hard the world is going to be to him hereafter. Doing so this makes Sammy realize that resistance is not a straightforward and effortless journey. Sammy says that while his family thinks it’s sad that he quit his job he doesn’t because he believes that some good will come out of this. By leaving his job at A&P Sammy has now been forced to grow up, to stop relying on his parents, and to start being independent. These last few lines of the short story reveal that Sammy has developed characteristics of a mature adult.
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