Reasons Why Sammy Quit his Job at A&P
Sammy is the protagonist in the A&P by John Updike. His decision to quit the job leaves many readers pondering over the reason to choose such a direction. He began narrating the story about three girls who entered A&P stores where he works with “nothing but bathing suits” (Updike 1). Sammy watched the girls throughout the story and ended up quitting his job after the manager reprimanded them for their inappropriate dressing. According to Lengel, the girls were violating the policies established in the store regarding the conduct of the personal grooming of all the employees. He said, “We want you decently dressed when you come in here” (Updike 3). Sammy was disturbed by Lengel’s rebuke to the girls, and therefore, he decided to quit in demonstration of his independence.
At age nineteen, Sammy wanted to create a difference at A&P, but his plans might have proved futile. He was a dreamer who has a sense of direction in his life. The way he argues his points shows a kind of a mature person and not a teen, as many may perceive him. He understands how the world works, and therefore, he can face all the obstacles in courage and determination without his job at A&P. His thoughts concerning the patrons doing shopping in the store portray an individual with a firm grip on how the world looks. He believes that he has what it takes to thrive even more when he quits his job.
Sammy was enraged by how Lengel handled the three girls who came to the store. According to him, they should not have been judged based on their dressing code. Sammy said, “I quit,” as the girls were leaving the store after the argument with Lengel over their indecent dressing. Sammy made the statement intending to attract the attention of the three girls, but he was not successful. When Lengel asked him what he had said, he repeated the same. “I said I quit” (Updike 4). He went on to show his defense on the girls, “you didn’t have to embarrass them” (Updike 4). This reveals that he was not impressed by the happenings in the store, and his initial intentions of accepting the job at A&P were not fulfilled.
When Lengel heard Sammy’s sentiments, he could not help but inform him that, “Sammy, you don’t want to do this to your Mom and Dad” (Updike 5). Sammy’s response reveals that he was conscious of making his decision to quit. Sammy was helped by his parents to secure the job at the store. Therefore, his parents would meet his decision to terminate the job with disbelief and annoyance. However, Sammy was prepared for this. He said that “it’s true” (Updike 5). This reveals that he did this to demonstrate his mental transformation to adulthood and independence from his parents. As he was leaving, he affirmed that he had depended on his parents. The shirt he had was ironed by his mother the night before for him to appear neat in the place of work.
As Sammy was looking back in the big windows, he could see Lengel in his place. He said that “His face was dark gray and his back stiff, as if he’d just had an injection of iron, and my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter” (Updike 5). It evident that Sammy so a dark future, and to avoid this, he decided to walk away. This is seen when he walked away from the window, leaving the dark future behind. Sammy did not quit his job to impress the girls, but he quit avoiding the troubles that come through depending on other people. Therefore, he is prepared to face the challenges that would come his way for his independent living.
Essay 2
Throughout Act 1, Lear is sane; however, his actions show that he is slowly becoming crazy. When he has divided the kingdom among his three daughters, he showed a lack of capacity to make the right decisions. He based division on the flattery display of love to give each daughter the share of the kingdom. When the youngest daughter told him that he loves him no more than a daughter can love his father, he became annoyed and banished her. Among those banished was his loyal man Kent. King Lear displayed craziness when he refused to get into the shovel and insist on staying in a storm. As a king, he should not have stayed in the storm since kings are honored people in the society, and therefore, they are guarded against such issues.
In Act 4, King Lear is completely crazy. He is found running in the field, and on his head, there is a crown of flowers. Everything he speaks at this time is illogical. He believes that Gloucester is Goneril with a beard. He said that “Ha Goneril with a white beard? They flattered me like a dog and told me I had white hairs in my beard are the black ones were there” (Urkowitz 96). This shows that Lear is not in his right mind. When he works up in one of Cordelia’s tent, he believes to be dead. He tells that she is a spirit that came to him. This shows that King Lear is crazy as a sober person does not speak in this manner.
King Lear is a father with three daughters and two sons. He chooses to divide the kingdom among his three daughters. The act of the division of the kingdom among the daughters showed that the majority of the parents find it difficult to love all their children equally. He gave the largest share to his two oldest daughters because of their false flattery that they love him so much. Having stayed with his oldest daughters, Regan and Goneril, he does not understand their capacity, to tell the truth for a decade. He asked them to declare if they loved him or not publicly. When Cordelia gave his opinion about how he loved him, he did not get satisfied, thus expelling her from his kingdom.
Throughout the play, King Lear changes. In the first scene, he sane and makes logical decisions. However, as the play progresses, his sanity declines. He used to disregard the lowly in society, but at one point, he changed and started being compassionate to them. He insisted on staying in the storm to feel what the homeless people experienced when they were in the storm. When he met Edgar in rags, he was compassionate about his condition. Therefore he decided to tear his clothes to experience the same. During Act One, he showed love to his eldest daughters, but he later loved Cordelia more than anyone else. He was even willing to live his kingly duties and spend time with her in the prison.
Essay 3
The first Act of “Fences” by August Wilson talks about Troy Maxson’s life. He has a friend named Bono, whom he met while he was in prison. Troy is a fighter of human rights. He took a garbage truck driver’s work to break the racial barrier at work. In his community, there is racial discrimination, but he is determined to bring to an end. When his son Cory got a chance to go college through football scholarship, he refused to sign the permission letter because he believes that his son will face racial discrimination. It is out of the experience that Troy did not permit Cory to take the chance because once in high school, he was the best baseball player, but his chances to advance were shuttered by racial discrimination.
Towards the end of the play, we learn that Troy is a caring person. When Alberta, the woman with whom had an affair with died, he left a little baby. Since he knew he was her father, he decided to take care of her. He entered the house with her wrapped in the blanket. He told his wife Rose that the child is innocent and does not have a mother, and therefore, she deserves to be taken care of. However, we see another dimension of him when Cory came to meet with him. At that time, he was taking gin. Cory told him that “I want to get by,” but he corrected him. He told him he should have said, “Excuse me.” Here we see him as a person with high moral standards and wanted his children to learn the same.
Troy’s character is hard to keep up with. His first marriage hit a rock, and it is clear that he was the cause of the breakage. Having married rose, he did not love her entirely but started engaging in extramarital affairs with Alberta. When Bono attempted to have him stop the behavior, Troy refused to listen. Later, he differs with her wife Rose after he brought in the baby whom she claimed to be his daughter (Wilson 5). Here, we see that Troy is not faithful in marriage because he engages in an extramarital relationship with Alberta, yet he is already married. He thought that no one would not know about the affair, but later, it was exposed.
Troy’s narrated that his father used to be harsh on him. Therefore, when he got sons, he seems to behave like his father to bring them up. He treats his sons based on the experience he has encountered in life. When he was in high school, he was a baseball player, but racism prevented him from becoming a pro. When his son Cory secure a chance to college through football scholarship, he refused to allow him to go there, citing he would be discriminated based on his race. Here, his intentions are genuine, but the methods he used to bring up his children are extreme. He wants to dictate Cory’s life instead of capitalizing on the opportunities in his life.
Cory wants to escape from his father’s path and live a life where he is the director. However, he finds it difficult since he finds himself in his footsteps. At some point, he told him that, “just because you didn’t have a chance, you just scared I’m gonna be better than you” (Wilson 58). Lyson, the son of Troy, also wanted to escape his father, but he found it difficult because he constantly needed his support. We see this when he goes to ask him for ten dollars during his payday. Lyson did not have the opportunity to experience the father’s love during his early age because Troy was in prison; however, when he got out, Lyson found that his father had an unending impact in his life.
Works Cited
Updike, John. “The A&P.” The Explicator 61.4 (2003)
Urkowitz, Steven. Shakespeare’s Revision of KING LEAR. Princeton University Press, 2014.
Wilson, Dillon George. “Fence.” U.S. Patent No. 2,057,018. 13 Oct. 1936.