Hidden Class Struggle in John Updikes A&P :: A&P Essays

The Hidden Class Struggle in Updikes A & P   Two Works Cited    In washbowl Updikes A & P, Sammy is accused of quitting his job for childlike, immature reasons. Nathan Hatcher states, In reality, Sammy quit his job not on a matter of ideals, but kind of as a means of showing off and trying to impress the girls, specially Queenie (37), but Sammys motive runs much deeper than that. He was searching for a sense of personal gain and satisfaction. By taking sides with the girls, he momentarily rises in class to meet their standards and the standards of the upper-class. Sammy was obviously near the bottom of the class ladder, a place where he was extremely unhappy. His dead-end job at the grocery store, where lower class citizens are the prime patrons, was not a place he felt he belonged. He wanted to be a member of the family where the father and the other men were standing around in ice-cream coats and bow ties and the women were in sandals picking up herrin g snacks on toothpicks off a big glass plate and they were all holding drinks the color of water with olives and sprigs of mint in them (Updike 1028). Sammy realizes that Queenie comes from this sort of background, a very different one from his. When Queenie is being harassed by Lengel, Sammy sees that she remembers her place, a place from which the crowd that runs the A & P moldiness look pretty crummy (Updike 1028). Queenies family was in the class that he envied, that he admired, that he wanted to become a part of. So Sammy give up his job to prove to himself, maybe to others, that he belongs in this place. Quitting his job is his first step in achieving this goal. Sammy was obviously enthralled by the girls from the moment they walked in the A & P. He was not keen on the other two girls, but Queenie overwhelmed him. He may have even taken a appetency to Queenie, but any average, nineteen-year old young-begetting(prenominal) would do the same after witnessing such striki ng beauty as is described. On the other hand, the average male would not quit a job and create such turmoil if first impression was the only cause. How interested could he actually be? In trying to figure out Queenies persona, he asks, do you really think its a mind in there or vindicatory a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar?