Teenagers often find themselves going through the motions of what they are told when they are told to. By conforming to society's norms, teenagers begin to feel as if they blend in and there is nothing truly special about them. John Updike managed to write a coming-of-age story in which his main character, Sammy, is thrust into adulthood rather quickly by spontaneous decision. Through Sammy's thoughts, intense observations, and his actions we are able to see his deep depravity and his desire to stand out from the crowd. Sammy is just your normal, average teenager who works at the local A&P store in his town. From the beginning of the story we can see that Sammy is very opinionated, sarcastic and has a keen sense of observation which allows one to understand the deeper meaning of the story. As Sammy contentedly describes everything around him, we are able to gain insight into how he sees the world and how he thinks about things. The majority of Sammy's story involves three girls who come into his shop. Immediately we can see Sammy's intense fascination with these three random girls, thinking he's just a normal teenager. Sammy, however, goes beyond superficial details to gather information about the people he observes. He studies one of the girls a little more carefully, becoming fascinated by her. He emphasizes how “She was the queen” (Updike 19) and how she seemed to naturally lead and capture anyone's attention in an instant. What struck him most were the dangling straps of her swimsuit. Obviously this intrigued Sammy in a very sensual way, but they are also clues that he uses to build a picture of his inner life. Once he hears all the girls talk, his imagination starts to sparkle about the girls, as it is... middle of paper... as if his life was boring and monotonous, but the moment he left the Work soon became aware of a new sense of depravity. Sammy realized the consequences he would face at home for leaving the job his parents had provided for him, and even more so for trying to find work in the small town again. His rash decision to leave his job for girls who had no idea he was there shows the human nature of wanting to be noticed and loved. Humans were created to be in relationships with other humans and when they are deprived of that attention they usually end up doing something drastic to get the slightest bit of attention. Updike used Sammy to connect with his readers in a way where we realized that we all have a deep desire to be known by the world, but if we let that desire consume us until we neglect the good things we have already had in the life, can ultimately destroy us.