A P a Story About Growing Up - 961 Words

Jon Borges Eng. 100 March 17, 2006 A P: A Story About Growing Up Written in 1956 by subject narration author, John Updike, AP, presents the story of a nineteen-year-old boy, Sammy, who over time comes to realize the painful reality of life. Sammy, who despises his insipid job as a checkout boy, works at the local AP mini-mart. Undoubtedly, having worked there for much to long, Sammy, finally says enough is enough, and quits his job. This story s theme revolves around a teenage boy s transition from boyhood to early adulthood, and the gradual change in three of his main character traits from: imaginative to practical, conservative to experimenting, and non-assertive, to assertive. Young Sammy almost certainly began his†¦show more content†¦Upon Mr. Lengels beleaguering of the girl, the climactic scene plays out as following: (Mr. Legel) Did you say something, Sammy? (Sammy) I said I quit. (Lengel) I thought you did. (Sammy) You didn t have to embarrass them. (Lengel) It was they who were embarrassing us. (Sammy) I started to say something that came out Fiddle-dedoo. I don t think you know what you re saying, Lengel said. (Sammy) I know you don t, I said. But I do (Updike 226). With that, Sammy takes off his bow tie and apron, and walks out of the store feeling a new kind of freedom that only someone who stands up for what he believes in can feel. In closing, AP delivered to me a sense of nostalgia of my own life experiences. I share an understanding of many of the same situations, which Sammy endured while growing into a young man. This story tells of a standard for most teenage middle-class lives in America, and how the come to grow and mature. AP had an indelible impact on my life, and will remain in my heart forevermore. Na, jus joke! Work Cited Updike, John. AP. Points of View, Moffett and McElheny. 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