In the short story “A&P”, the author, John Updike, develops the theme of reality. The story is a coming-of-age story in which nineteen-year-old Sammy, the protagonist, is a worker at the local grocery store. An extremely attractive – in Sammy's eyes – young girl, Queenie, enters the store with her friends who are also physically attractive, and lures Sammy into making a chivalrous decision which ends negatively – he goes unnoticed. Letting his life turn upside down. In "A&P", Updike uses Queenie and the girls to reveal Sammy's true character, disloyal, impulsive and thoughtless. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get the original essay Sammy can be considered a typical young boy, in the sense that he chooses Queenie's physical appearance and his initial impression of being a lover, on her current job. Sammy says, "I say 'I quit' to Lengel quickly enough for them to hear...their unsuspected hero." It seems Sammy's immediate goal in quitting is to impress the girls. His reasons for going through with it and the likely consequences of his decision are more complex due to his lack of forethought. We can notice his characteristic of disloyalty, in the fact that he leaves behind a job that is meaningful not only for him but also for his parents. With Lengel, the store manager. This unexpected but strong characteristic brings out another side of Sammy that readers – and even the characters in the book – may never have suspected. In representation of his impulsive actions, Sammy leads his decision to quit because he wants to pursue Queenie allowing him to end his life. is the opposite of what he wants. Updike expresses through Sammy: "But it seems to me that once you start a gesture, it's fatal not to follow through." Queenie and her friends eventually leave, making Sammy realize that his decision to quit was pointless. Lengel then tries to dissuade Sammy from stopping by reminding him how his parents will feel. Even if Sammy realizes that what Lengel says is true and the feeling of guilt rises within him, his feeling of pride does not allow him to change his mind. He accepts the fact that he made a gesture in favor of those he called "my daughters", and renouncing his decision is a mistake. Sammy's short temper has left him in a place where it's starting to affect him negatively, in a perceived way. Realizing his decisions, Sammy accepts his rashness and arrogance to the extent that his initial task of impressing Queenie failed. Sammy reveals: “I felt how hard the world was going to be for me next.” With Sammy gone, the story ends with Sammy accepting what he has now done to himself. He looks around the store and notices that Lengel is doing Sammy's job. Sammy then finds himself caught between his comfortable and safe past and his doubtful and rejected future. Seeing Sammy realize his attribute of unconsciousness shows that his true intentions were not to harm anyone or himself, but that by being abrupt in his decision making, he led himself to a place where he is unnoticed and ultimately unemployed. Keep in mind: This is just a sample. Get a personalized article now from our expert writers. Get a personalized essay Allowing readers to see how Updike illustrates Sammy, developing his disloyal, impulsive and thoughtless personality traits , sheds light on the various effects this can have on a person. Seeing Sammy find himself unemployed and invisible to Queenie and her friends also shows readers – as well as Sammy..