In John Updike’S Popular Short Story- “AP”, The Main...

In John Updike’s popular short story- â€Å"AP†, the main character, Sammy may seem like he has a typical life like any other teenage boy would. Yet Updike proceeds to explain that â€Å"AP† is not just an ordinary story. In Updike’s short story, Sammy is eventually faced with the consequences of his actions and is forced to mature more than what he already anticipated being. Saldivar’s article states â€Å"He needs a sympathetic listener (or reader), someone who will grasp the meaning he is constructing for himself as he puts his actions into narrative order† (Saldivar Para 2). Sammy spies three girls entering â€Å"AP† only wearing bathing suits, he singled out one girl and referred to her as â€Å"Queenie† mostly because of her confidence and beauty.†¦show more content†¦Although it turns his life to unordinary, Sammy views the girls as a refreshing and escaping scene for himself. He was used to seeing the regular, o rdinary customers that he referred to as sheep. Something about the girls demeanor when entering â€Å"AP† left Sammy with a inspirational, riving feeling. Porter later in his article discusses why he thought Sammy quit his job, which ultimately made his life change. He viewed it as Sammy making a gesture as both a statement towards the girls decency and a rejection of â€Å"AP† and the misdirected values for which the store held. The action that Sammy made was an exaggerated result from his youth. His action does not diminish from the simple goodness of his chivalric intent, nor does it take away the importance of his personal commitment. Although Sammy knows that he will feel this for the rest of his life and that he separated himself from the flock and the â€Å"AP† crowd. Sammy chose to set himself against the majority. But Sammy also understood that he could not start something and not follow through with it whether it made his life ordinary or not. Once Sa mmy realized that not to follow the voice of conscience is to be false to ones own integrity and would be living a lie, he chose to live an honest and significant life instead. Sammy considers himself as being a mature young man but in certain parts of JohnShow 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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