Motives for the protagonist's gesture of protest in John Updike's "A&P".

The story "A&P" by John Updike, illustrates the choice of a young man to follow principle and to have a more liberal way of life. Sammy, a nineteen year-old, was a worker at the local A&P (Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company) in a middle class neighborhood, and he was led to quit his job as a protest against a perceived insult to a young woman he admired. He wanted to quit …

…uldn't put on a positive image of him if he didn't go with it, and moreover, he couldn't stand the sight of the pretty girl blushing at Lengels insulting remark. He realizes later on that since he was not able to bare all these and since his outlook on life was different from everyone else's, it was going to be difficult for him to survive in the world and to get whatever he hoped for.