Do 1

Van Do
Dr. Angelique Medvesky
ENC 1102
4 April 2016
Why Sammy is Not a Hero
A&P is a story that was written by John Updike in 1961. The whole story is all about the
cashier Sammy who stands against his boss in the grocery store with the hope that his actions
will impress the girls. Sammy shares some traits that a hero needs to have. However, he is not a
true hero; instead, he is being a foolish character in this short story.
Sammy is a cashier of the A&P store. Everything was fine with him until that Thursday
afternoon, when 3 teenagers came to the store wearing swimming suits. He carefully explored
the girls, and there was Queenie, who had awakened him by her beauty. However, according to
Lengel the store manager of A&P, wearing swimming suits is inappropriate in this store. Lengel
stopped them at the checking aisle in front of Sammy to give them a lesson. After being warned
by Lengel, the three girls left the grocery store. Sammy was in a hurry to get attention from
Queenie, so he quitted his job as a response to advocate the poor girls.
The author in this story made Sammy, the protagonist, become a plucky person. As a duty
of a cashier, Sam didnt insult the customers like the store manager. Sammy is only 19 years old,
but he was very courageous to ask to quit the job when he disagreed with the behavior of Lengel
towards the girls. He was able to stand against his boss and say out loud, I quit, with the hope

Do 2

that his imaginary girlfriend Queenie will hear it and admire him. He is not afraid of the
authority, and that is a very important characteristic required to be a hero.
However, his action leads to the very ordinary purposes, which turned him into a fool
instead of a hero. A true hero is someone who has enough courage to do the right things not only
for themselves, but for other people as well. A hero is ready to sacrifice his life for the ideals to
make this world better, and they sometimes do it in silence without anyone knowing it. In this
story, Sammys action serves a purpose of impressing the girls. He wanted to say he quit this job
quickly so that the girls can acknowledge him. He did it without knowing the consequences of
his action. As a result, he is kind of regretful at the end of story when there is no one there to
acknowledge with his heroic deed. I look around for my girls, but they're gone. He made a
big mistake, and now he has to face with the difficulty of having no job that summer. A true hero
wont ever regret what they did for the right reasons. Thats why the cashier Sammy is not a hero
in this story.
In conclusion, John Updike was successful in creating an ironic character Sammy. Trying
to be a hero in the girls eyes to gain their attention, Sammy only proved to be a fool when he
quit his job. Even though he stood up against what he thought was wrong, he still is not
considered to be a hero due to an ordinary purpose of his action.

Do 3

Works Cited
Updike, John. "Reading More Fiction." State College of Florida Written Communications 2.
New York, London: W. W. Norton, n.d. 591-97. Print.