In the short story by John Updike, entitled,
"A&P," the falling action occurs after Sammy (the protagonist of the story)
stands up for the girls who enter the grocery store where he works and are chastised by
the manager for their attire (bathing suits). Sammy is turning a corner in his young
life: this is a "rite of passage" story. Sammy sees the girls, especially the one he
names "Queenie," and perhaps falls just a little in love—for she is like a queen, and he
is mesmerized.
When they leave, Sammy finds that he cannot
stand the fact that they have been scolded and sent on their way. Even though the rules
state (as pointed out by the manager) that proper attire must be worn, Sammy cannot
accept what has happened. He quits his job, though his manager tries to dissuade
him—knowing Sammy's family.
"Sammy, you don't want to do this to your Mom and
Dad," he tells me. It's true, I don't. But it seems to me that once you begin a gesture
it's fatal not to go through with
it.
Sammy, however, leaves
the store and knows that from that moment on, nothing will be the same.
This is the falling action of the
story. It's like the lead up to Eve eating the apple in the Garden of Eden. It is a
momentous decision (albeit a bad one) that is the pivotal point of that story. When all
is said and done, a new, harder life is begun. This is the way it is with Sammy. He is
grateful that he can make a "clean getaway." He goes outside and the girls are, of
course, gone. He looks at the manager who has taken his spot in the checkout line, and
Sammy knows there is no turning back: even looking at the manager, he may glimpse the
complications that come with growing up.
...my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the
world was going to be to me
hereafter.
We are left to
imagine that the youngster Sammy was when he came to work,
now sees the world from a new perspective. The world will never be
as simple and uncomplicated as it was when he arrived at the store to start his
shift.
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