Ninja Stars and A & P

Origami ninja stars are normally two contrasting colors. In the story of A & P, there are two different “colors” or characters, Sammy and the three girls. The ninja stars start off as two separate sheets; the two pieces of paper seem to have no connection with each other. Similarly, the characters in the short story, are not related other than the fact that they are all in the A & P store at the same time. Throughout the short story, Sammy starts describing the girls and their bathing suits, saying “she was the queen...long white prima donna legs.” He instantly characterizes the three girls and seems to judge them solely on their looks. He objectifies the three girls, but the girls seem to feel that because of this and their gender, they have power over the men in the room, which is shown through their nonchalant walking.

But what does this have to do with ninja stars? What’s the point? How are Sammy and the three girls related?

Well, Sammy’s manager, Lengel, stops the three girls and asks them to leave due to their bathing suits not following the store’s rules, and they leave hurriedly. Sammy then quickly says that he quits because Lengel was “embarrass[ing] them.” He then continues to say that the “world was going to be” hard to him, implying that according to societal norms he should not have supported the three girls and that his actions are more important than the actions of three girls.

To conclude, this is where the two separate sheets form the one ninja star. The three girls had impacted Sammy and had caused him to quit his job, connecting the three girls directly to Sammy. However, whereas the two sheets stay together in a ninja star, the three characters and Sammy do not. In fact, he looks around for the three girls, “but they’re gone.” Furthermore, the ninja star itself can be seen as powerful and used as a weapon, which also relates to Sammy; his actions have more of an impact according to him, probably because he is a male, that it will cause the world to be harsh to him.