Essay Sample on Freedom In Speech

Introduction

In a time where people were unable to voice their thoughts or even come out boldly to defend what they stood for, Sammy is considered a hero because he did the unthinkable and decided to quit his job. However, some people think this an act of heroism while others believe this as an act of foolishness. Sammy felt that he no longer agreed with his bosses', Lengel, views on many aspects of life and this is when he decided to quit. The following essay, therefore, seeks to defend the position that Sammy took by choosing to leave his job against all the odds.

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Many people are led by the belief that they have to follow something or someone so that they can survive. Due to this mentality, many people have been unable to make decisions on their own but instead rely on other people to make it for them. These people who are let to make decisions on behalf of other people end being like their leaders, and the people being led follow everything that the leader is doing.

The same case applies to the girls who distracted Sammy at his workplace. He noticed that out of the three girls that walked into the store that he was working in; only one girl seemed to decide for the other two girls. Sammy even referred to her as Queenie because the other girls worked and revolved around what she was doing making her more of their leader. This is analogy is related to bees, being very hard-working hard animals, they make all that effort in a bid to appease their queen leader.

This is precisely an analogy that can be related to everybody's day to day life, especially as human beings continue to feel the pressure of belonging in a particular social group, religion, class, political party, university and so on. Therefore, the reason that motivated Sammy to quit his job was so that he could be different and not behave like every employed person who was scared of losing their job.

Many people argue that Sammy quit his job because he wanted to impress the three girls that his boss, Lengel, had shamed because of how they were dressed. One would be led to believe so because before he decided to quit, he had described the girls in very sexual ways, ways only a nineteen-year-old who was very interested in the girls would do.

Hence when Lengel shamed them for how they had dressed, Sammy stood up and declared that he was quitting as a sign of not agreeing with Lengel on his views and opinions. Lengel went ahead to say to the girls, "We want you decently dressed when you come in here," referring to the store and one girl, Queenie went ahead to reply, "we are decent", showing that from her perspective she had done no wrong. This shows a sense a sense of rebellion and also self-understanding, something that Sammy admired from the girls and one of the things that motivated him to quit (Bentley 120).

Choice is another aspect that can be analyzed from Sammy's decision to quit his job. Many people believe that just because someone has given them a job, regardless of their working conditions, that it would be rude if they decided to leave. However, Sammy shows that one has the power to choose where they work. His character shows that if someone faces dissatisfaction at their place of work, then they do not need to stay and be miserable to please their bosses or out of fear of facing the outside world.

Sammy demonstrates a lot of courage by making his choice to quit as he does not know where he will get employment next or what would be next for him. In addition to that, Sammy's quitting can be seen as a sign to strive for independence. When he leaves his job, his boss tells him, "Sammy you do not want to do this to your mum and dad." An indication that Sammy was working for his parents or he was working there because his parents expected him to or wanted him to work there ((Thompson 215).

When Sammy decides to quit, he demonstrates that he is capable of making his own decision regardless of what the whole would think. He does not need to ask his parents for permission to quit the job, however, but he makes the decision himself showing the dependence he has to make his own choices. His boss Lengel adds that "You'll feel this for the rest of your life" as if you to show Sammy that wherever he was headed there was no future but Sammy also had to prove that he was transitioning into manhood and that he could gain some form of independence (Stearns 400).

Furthermore, there is the concept of rebellion tries to explain why Sammy decided to quit his job. On a primary day, older women with children usually walk into the store and go about in their businesses, however on this particular, this group of girls walks into the store dressed only in their bathing suits and walking very broadly not fearing anyone. Sammy sees this as a challenge because he is almost their age and they are not afraid of the societal norms, but they have instead opted to live by their own rules.

This realization spikes the spirit of rebellion in him, and he decides to quit his job leaving everyone shocked. For Sammy, it is a form of rebellion and also resistance against the usual norms. Sammy feels that his boss had crossed the limits and he decided to let him know that they did not share the same views by saying, "You didn't have to embarrass them." This was meant to show that his boss could have handled the situation in a better manner and the manner which he had dealt with the case did not please Sammy. Besides another reason that would have motivated Sammy to quit his job would have the pursuit to be better and become a member of the elite class of citizens (Li 20).

From Sammy's analysis of the three girls, he could see that they all came from an elite class of people in the society and seeing as he was just working at a local shop, he saw that being there would not amount to him being a successful person and joining an elite class of people in the society. He notices that when of the girls says, "My mother asked me to pick up a jar of herring snacks'. This was a snack that was consumed by wealthy people and not average citizens. With this realization, Sammy saw the need to quit his current and strive to find a job or a career that could make him live in the middle-class range of people in society. Moreover, his decision to quit inspires people to always stand for what they believe in regardless of the outcomes that may follow or the consequences. Sammy felt that even though the girls were dressed in a way that was not usual for people at the shop, the boss had no right to dismiss just from the clothes that they were wearing.

He believed that everyone had the right to choose what to wear and have no one attack or humiliate based on the decision that they made. Hence his decision to quit was also driven by his principles. The fact that someone else could not respect what he believed in, was unacceptable to Sammy and hence he saw that the best option would be to move away from people that he did not share the same ideas and principles with.

Conclusion

Sammy inspires a lot of people to stand up for themselves and follow what they believe in. As discussed above there are various aspects of character and life decisions that can be tapped from the story of Sammy. In as much as critics have their different views on the reasons why Sammy quit his job, every reason serves as a lesson to people who are inspired by this story.

Works Cited

Bentley, Greg W. "Sammy's Erotic Experience: Subjectivity and Sexual Difference in John Updike's "A & P." Journal of the Short Story in English. Les Cahiers de la nouvelle 43 (2004): 120-141.

Stearns, Jennie, Jennifer A. Sandlin, and Jake Burdick. "Resistance on aisle three? Exploring the great curriculum of consumption and the (im) possibility of resistance in John Updike's "A&P." Curriculum Inquiry 41.3 (2011): 394-415.

Thompson, Corey Evan. "Updike's A & P." The Explicator 59.4 (2001): 215-216.

Li, Kangin. Vision and form in John Updike's short fiction. Diss. Department of English, 2014.