“A&P” 1095limits that his place in the world of commerce has
set for him.
When Sammy resigns his position, he empha-
sizes the fact that he throws off the aspects of his job
that deal with commerce and conformity. He makes
a production of leaving open his cash register drawer
as he departs. He also “fold[s] the apron, ‘Sammy’
stitched in red on the pocket” and leaves the bow
tie. He emphasizes that he leaves the apron neatly
on the counter, the site of the store’s commercial
transactions, and by leaving the apron that bears
his name, he disavows the version of himself that
remaining in the employment of the A&P would
imply. Additionally, he informs his audience that the
bow tie belongs not to him but to his employer, and
so he is leaving behind all of the material items that
mark him as an employee of the A&P. As the girls
were not appropriately attired to shop at the A&P,
Sammy is no longer fittingly dressed to work there,
and the only place for him to go is outside, where he
can reassume his own identity. After he leaves the
store, he has a fresh perspective on the merchandise
stacked up at the window and imprisoning Lengel,
but he also realizes that he will be at work against
larger forces throughout his life. This story presents
a disavowal of the de-individualizing influences of
the stated and unstated rules of commercialism. It is
a vindication of nonconformity, while also serving as
an assertion that the path the idealistic nonconform-
ist takes will not be easy.
Maura Grace Harrington
HeroISm in “A&P”
When we have too much time on our hands or suf-
fer from a lack of mental stimulation, we can begin
to imagine things. We might fantasize about the
best, fear the worst, or meld these two modes of
thought together. Sammy’s reveries at his boring job
predispose him to attempt to take on the role of the
hero, an attempt that only highlights his inadequacy
to fill this role.
Sammy tries desperately to occupy his mind
while he does his job, the motions of which he has
memorized and even made into a simplistic song,
“Hello (bing) there, you (gung) hap-py pee-pul
(splat)!” To Sammy, everything in the grocery store
is larger than life or a version of something else. The
store is a huge “pinball machine,” and the automatic
door is a futuristic “electric eye.” Sammy invents vil-
lains against whom he must defend his microcosm.
The first customer about whom he tells his audi-
ence is a “witch,” both in appearance and in action.
Lengel, the man in the story with the most power,
wields force not only as the A&P’s manager but also
as an adult friend of Sammy’s parents and, perhaps
more significantly, as an agent of the local church.
His association with the church authorizes him to
serve as the story’s morality police. Sammy describes
the girls as being attired only in rather scanty swim-
ming apparel, and therefore they are vulnerable and
in need of protection. In this setting, brimming with
a cast of colorful characters, he asserts himself as
the everyday good guy who will save the day. In the
world that Sammy has constructed for the reader, a
world that is inhabited by powerful forces against
which to do battle, even the smallest action that
he, everyman, takes against these powers will seem
heroic.
Sammy’s narrative choices heighten the dramatic
components of his own performance as romantic
and tragic hero. He envisions his leading lady as
“Queenie,” a bold young woman who holds “her
head so high” and is visibly the leader of her min-
ions in the quest to acquire Fancy Herring Snacks.
Because she is valorized as a lofty heroine, any man
who will come to her aid must also be of high status.
This unstated recognition leads Sammy to convey
the image of himself as a lofty hero. However, there
is always an ironic contrast between his lofty aspira-
tions and his mundane setting.
Further, when he makes his decision to quit his
job, Sammy is fully aware that he is putting on a
performance. He resigns quickly, before the girls
leave the store, “hoping that they’ll stop and watch
me, their unsuspected hero.” Through the conscious
decision to resign in such a dramatic manner, and so
that he will be noticed for his valor, Sammy reveals
that he is not necessarily quitting for the right
reasons. Further, after the girls have left the store,
Sammy is still trying to salvage his performance, so
that he will give the appearance of being a hero even
if he does not give this impression to the girls, the
audience he originally intended. He is happy that
this whole fiasco has taken place during the summer