eng peer review of mini essay

Mini Essay 2

In the short story “A & P” by John Updike, three girls walk into Sammy’s store all wearing bathing suits. His manager, Lengel, confronts them based on their attire. Sammy, the main character, is conflicted. Stand up for them and be their ‘hero’ or say nothing and go back to work. The theme of “A & P” is showing maturity. Sammy does this when he stands up for the girls to show that he is a man and tries to impress them with this gesture. When Sammy tells Lengel that he is quitting, he tries to find the girls but they disappeared. The three girls came into his store, they caused trouble, and he wanted to show them that he was mature by standing up for them in front of his manager.

The initial conflict arises immediately in the short story with the three girls walking into Sammy’s A & P. They are all wearing bathing suits, which is unusual attire for a grocery store. The three girls distract Sammy immensely, especially “the one in the plaid green two-piece” (1013). They only came into the store to get Herring snacks but they cause such a great distraction to Sammy that he can’t efficiently ring up the old lady’s HiHo crackers. Once he is done with the old ladies groceries, he follows them around the store in a sort of stalking manor.

Further into the store the girls find the Herring snacks they’ve come to purchase, but not without drawing the attention of the supervising manager, Lengel. Lengel approaches the women and addresses them on their attire. He says “Girls, this isn’t the beach” (1016). Sammy sees this as the perfect opportunity to show that he is as man and has matured. He tells Lengel that he quits. This is his way of showing he is mature. He is standing up against Lengel to show the girls that he is a man. Lengel tries to get him to change his mind but Sammy sees it at as “once you begin a gesture it’s fatal not to go through with it” (1017).

The crisis in the story comes from Sammy quitting. He quits showing the gesture that he is a gentleman and standing up for the girls. “Sammy, you do not want to do this to your mom and dad” (1017). It’s true he didn’t but he really wanted to impress the girls. After he put his apron and tie, he leaves A & P in hopes of finding the three girls, especially Queenie, but they disappeared. Now he is out of a job and ended up with no girls.

Conflict and crisis help develop the theme of maturity and being a man in the short story “A & P” by John Updike. Sammy quits his job as a cashier to be a man and show the girls that he backs them up. But little did he know that they just disappear.