Homework Clinic
Social Science Clinic => English => Topic started by: tuffie on Jul 20, 2018
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Does anything lead you to expect Sammy to make some gesture of sympathy for the three girls? What incident earlier in the story (before Sammy quits) seems a foreshadowing?
What will be an ideal response?
Question 2
Why, exactly, does Sammy quit his job?
What will be an ideal response?
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Answer to Question 1
- Sammys descriptions of Queenie and the other girls in the opening paragraphs helps make his later gesture of heroism understandable. It establishes, also, that Sammy feels at odds with his job and the mindset of his male co-workers. The clearest foreshadow of Sammys heroism takes place as Sammy watches the girls ask McMahon, the butcher, a question. Sammy observes that they shuffled out of sight behind a pyramid of Diet Delight peaches. All that was left for us to see was old McMahon patting his mouth and looking after them sizing up their joints (par. 10). Although Sammy has been doing the same thing since the girls walked into the store, he commentsin clear contrast to McMahons piggishnessPoor kids, I began to feel sorry for them, they couldnt help it.
Answer to Question 2
- When Lengel confronts the girls about their appearance and embarrasses them in front of the other customers, Sammy feels empowered to make a heroic gesture. Within this story, Sammy rises to a kind of heroism. He throws over his job to protest their needless humiliation. Their display of nonconformity prompts his. Unfortunately for Sammy, the girls leave the store without even noticing what he did for them. He continues through with the action, however, because it becomes a matter of pride for himself and a rebellion against his boss: It seems to me that once you begin a gesture its fatal not to go through with it (par. 30). While the girls are certainly the impetus for him to quit, ultimately it could be argued that he quits for himself, asserting both his frustration with the A & P as well as his evolving manhood.