Sammy and the Setting in John Updikes AP Essay

John Updikes AP is about a boy named Sammy, who lives a simple life while working in a supermarket he seems to despise. As he is following his daily routine, three girls in bathing suits enter the store. The girls affect everyones monotonous lives, especially Sammys. Because the girls disrupt the routines of the store, Sammy becomes aware of his life and decides to change himself. Before the girls enter the store, Sammy is unaware that the setting he is so judgmental of reflects his own life. Sammy feels that he is better than the rest of people at the AP, referring to them as sheep and house-slaves because they never break from their daily routines. He also condescendingly talks about whatever it is they[the†¦show more content†¦Sammy also identifies with his co-worker Stokesie, the responsible married man, and therefore wishes to someday be the manager of the store, like Lengel. He continues to live an artificial life with no risks under artificial fluorescent light of the store; a life he is completely unaware of. When the girls disrupt the patterns of the store, the one-way patterns of Sammys life are also disrupted, causing him to reflect on his life. As Sammy looks at the girls, he first notices the areas on them where the sun has affected their skin tone, and he becomes infatuated with these areas since he generally sees women varicose veins and no eyebrows underneath the fluorescent lights of the store. These sun kissed areas along with their bathing suits are so distracting to Sammy that he breaks normal routine and makes a mistake, an unusual occurrence, while checking out the cash-register-watcher as he has always done. Sammy then echoes Stokesie as Stokesie talks about the girls as if they were objects, but when Stokesie questions their disregard of policy and returns to work, Sammy continues to watch the girls, and seems to enjoy the way they flaunt their freedom to ignore the stores rules, separating himself from Stokesie. Sammy then disconnects himself from the store completely whe n McMahon looks at the girls just like Sammy did earlier with Stokesie. At this point Sammy isShow MoreRelatedA P By John Updike1441 Words   |  6 PagesJohn Updike is considered one of the greatest writers in modern American history. He is known for the idea that seemingly ordinary aspects of American life are actually quite fascinating. He wanted readers to see the beauty and magic of life, so he tried to describe everyday things using the most clear but beautiful language possible. 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