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Allusions
Genre
Explanation and Analysis:
“A&P” is a short story that belongs to the coming-of-age literary genre. At the opening of the story, Sammy is (however begrudgingly) following the rules of his society—at 19 years old, he has a steady job at the A&P and financially supports himself. Though he has bitter and sarcastic thoughts about the “sheep” and “houseslaves” who shop at the store—implying a desire to rebel against this sort of normative life—he still treats shoppers with respect and care.
This all starts to shift when Sammy sees a trio of teenage girls confidently walk into the A&P wearing only bathing suits. He is attracted to them physically but, more than that, is drawn to their non-conforming attitude—they don’t seem to care that social norms dictate they cover themselves up and put on shoes before walking into a business establishment.
Sammy “comes of age” when, at the end of the story, he decides to quit his job in protest after witnessing his manager Lengel reprimand the girls for not covering themselves. In this moment, Sammy decides that his personal code of ethics—in which being true to oneself is the most important thing—trumps his commitment to social norms, even if that means losing financial stability.
It is significant that, rather than feeling empowered after quitting his job, Sammy’s stomach “falls” and he becomes aware of “how hard the world was going to be” for him because of this choice. In this way, Sammy simultaneously asserts his individualist ethic and faces the fact that, because of his class position, such an ethic does not guarantee him freedom the way it does for the upper-class girls who can leave the A&P and return to their privileged lives.
Related Themes:
