In the short story “A&P” by John Updike, Updike develops a theme of maturation and humility. The story is a story of growth and development where the main character, Sammy, makes the crazy decision to do something he assumes is an adult thing. Unfortunately, what Sammy thinks is a chivalrous act goes unnoticed by the Queen and her friends, and he is ultimately left to deal with the outcome of his youthful actions. In the A&P story, Updike describes Sammy as having an internal struggle between freedom, morality, and freedom and is also a miserable young man whose immature behavior stems from his sexist views, contempt of personality, and judgmental attitude. Sammy's character is depicted as a disrespectful young man who has no respect for other people; he seems to be in a world of his own. First of all, he is verbally abusive to customers, calling them "sheep" meaning they essentially mean nothing to them and blindly and mindlessly follow each other up and down the aisles with their shopping carts. Sammy is exclusively rude to an older lady he calls the "witch". This old woman is sad and unattractive to Sammy, unlike Queenie. Since Sammy is a cashier, I believe he should refrain from insulting people in his mind and focus on giving his full attention to customers and only worry about keeping them satisfied. Sammy's disrespectful and estranged behavior isn't limited to customers, but extends to his co-worker, Stokesie. He watches Stokesie in his thoughts: “Think it will become a nativity scene on a sunny day…”. Sammy appears to be deranged in thinking that he is a more elite person than everyone else, when in reality he is more similar to everyone than different. His mentality is flawed and desperately needs to be corrected. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayAlthough Sammy is portrayed as critical of his customers because he appears to be disgusted by the girls' clothing and the way they act as soon as they enter the store, he has an eye for Queenie, to whom he expresses the beauty of her costume bathing suit with compliments: "I mean, it was more than cute." At this very moment, he defies everything else to please Queenie, even if it means losing his job. As a result, when Lengel, the store manager, shames the girls for how they dress, Sammy finds his time to shine by defending the girls, exclusively Queenie. “You shouldn't have embarrassed them.” Without a doubt, Sammy's goal was to get Queenie's attention as a man who would stand up to her boss for her. However, this casual outburst shows that he only thinks about the present and acts on emotions, is not afraid of the future, and thinks rationally. His outlook on life is too simple and he thinks he was right in trying to protect the girls from Lengel's harsh words. It's clear that Sammy needs to fertilize some life experience to look at all angles of things before making spontaneous decisions. Sammy's unfortunate lack of maturity has caused him immense ramifications, leading him into a life of thorns. Due to his pride in girls and not thinking things through properly, Sammy was willing to argue with his boss and quit his job in hopes that Queenie would see that he is a man who stands up for women. His false act of assuming that the girls need an unsuspecting hero to save them at some point further demonstrates his immaturity. In addition to losing his job, Sammy would have to face the fact that his parents were disappointed in him for making such a childish mistake..