The short story “A&P” is about the transition to adulthood of a nineteen-year-old boy named Sammy. In the story, Sammy ignorantly put himself in a position that ultimately led to him having an epiphany. Sammy had a dead end job, but felt he was destined for something bigger and working at the local "A&P" grocery store was a waste of time. In an unnoticed act of heroism, Sammy quit his job at the supermarket without thinking about the consequences because manager Lengel embarrassed three girls who entered the store in bathing suits.” After that incident, Sammy was left thinking about what his life would be like. This "A&P" story was written in 1961 by John Updike, winner of the National Medal of Art and the National Medal of the Humanities. In “A&P”, Updike develops the maturation of the theme with the Character Sammy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay John Updike, the author of this story was born in Pennsylvania in 1932. During his adolescence, he “devoted himself to writing and drawing, aspiring to make his mark as a cartoonist, for Walt Disney or perhaps for The New Yorker, which he read enthusiastically after his aunt provided a subscription for his family. Updike later attended "Harvard on a scholarship where he studied English and contributed cartoons and articles to the Harvard Lampoon, which he edited during his senior year." After receiving his undergraduate degree from Harvard, Updike went to Oxford University to study drawing and fine arts. In the 1950s Updike's dream came true. “He found work at the New Yorker as a staff member where he provided them with stories, witty and light-hearted verse, and research reviews.” After some time he left to become a full-time writer. Updike became an excellent fiction writer and wrote over 50 books. During his career he has won numerous awards such as the National Medal of Art and the National Medal of Humanistic Studies. He then died in 2009. John Updike's story “A&P” took place in a grocery store called A&P on a Thursday afternoon. A&P in addition to being used in this story is a real store located in New England. I believe the story happened on a Thursday afternoon because Sammy pointed it out by saying, "The store is pretty empty, being a Thursday afternoon." Updike also paints a picture of the grocery store in our minds using details such as "checkerboard green and cream rubber tile floor," "hand cart," "aisle," and "checkout window." This helps the reader connect more with the story since these are details we see or notice in the grocery stores around us. The characters in the story played a huge role in the development of the theme. For starters, I believe the main characters were Sammy, Lengel, and Queenie while the minor characters were Stokesie and Queenie's two friends. Sammy was the main character and narrator of the story. He was a nineteen year old boy who worked at A&P as a cashier. We could tell from his actions that he had a judgmental and disrespectful attitude. His critical attitude was often towards his clients and colleagues. One example was when he referred to customers as “Sheep pushing their cart down the aisle.” I think he was implying that they followed each other blindly. At the end of the story, Sammy ended up quitting as an act of heroism because her boss Lengel scolded Queenie and her friends for entering the store in bathing suits but unfortunately her act of heroism went unnoticed by the girls. Lengel was the antagonist of the story in my opinion. Lengel was the..