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1. 
   ms-mcgregor Teacher
   High School - 12th Grade

   eNotes Editor

   There are several conflicts in the story "A&P". The major external conflict is between Sammy and the supermarket manager, Lengal. A corollary to that would be the conflict between what the girls think is appropriate clothing for the supermarket and what the manager thinks. Sammy is appalled that the Lengal reprimands the girls for their skimpy attire. Internally, Sammy is also conflicted, first by the appearance of the girls and secondly by what is reaction should be in light of Lengal's treatment of the girls. Finally, after he quits his job and the girls do not respond to his 'heroic" actions, he realizes "how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter''.

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   Posted by ms-mcgregor on Saturday September 27, 2008 at 10:07 AM
   
   

2. 
   kwoo1213 Teacher
   College - Junior

   eNotes Editor

   There is also an internal conflict for Sammy in regards to being a teenager vs. entering adulthood.  Sammy is at the age that he will be considered an "adult" soon and until the episode at the store, he was very much still in "teenager" mode, meaning that he did not consider for a second the seriousness of quitting his job and the consequences that would come along with it.  He made a very poor, spur-of-the-moment decision for all of the wrong reasons.  He lets his "teenage boy" mentality get in the way of the fact that he, at his age, should be learning to think logically and with more restraint.  

   Once he quits, he FINALLY realizes that he made a mistake and that he has officially been forced to enter the real world of adulthood and face the consequences of his actions!

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   Posted by kwoo1213 on Saturday September 27, 2008 at 3:27 PM