Although, Sammie quitting his job seems to be about the girls and how Lengel treated them, a closer look at Sammy's symbolic descriptions of the people in his environment and his setting, bring to light his desire for freedom. As a result of this, we are able to recognize that Sammy quit because he realized his complacency for ordinary routine was leading to a life of monotony and thus preventing him from progressing through life.
Throughout A&P people are used as symbols for complacency, and more importantly, Sammie's dissatisfaction with the life that he is leading. An example of a symbol is when Sammie compares the people such as his customers to animals, for example flocking "sheep" (151). Sammie makes this observation based on the tedious way the customers move throughout the store, where even if you "set off dynamite in an A&P…the people would by and large keep reaching and checking oatmeal off their lists" (151).…show more content… Sammie also makes a symbol out of his boss Lengel, comparing him to a creature that "scuttles" (152), in other words, a crab that only moves in a side-to-side fashion without progression. This observation of Lengel suggests he struggles to change, as observed through his conservative response to the swimsuit girls, several times declaring that the A&P "is not a beach," (152). One of the most prominent characters to be presented as a symbol for complacency is Stokesie. Stokesie's importance is that he mirrors what could happen to Sammie if he were to stay at A&P. As stated by Sammie, "Stokesie's married, with two babies chalked up on his fuselage already, but as far as I can tell that's the only difference. He's twenty-two, and I was nineteen this April" (151). The fact that he is so close in age to Stokesie suggests that Sammie could easily be chained to obligations of marriage/parenthood at any point, yet this is not a life
