Sammy, the 19-year-old narrator of "A&P," is a cashier in an A&P grocery store in a small Massachusetts town. The story he tells takes place on a Thursday afternoon in the summer. "A&P" author John Updike describes Sammy as "a typical well intentioned male trying to find his way in society" (source).
When we meet Sammy on this lazy summer afternoon, the big theme of his life becomes pretty obvious. Sammy thinks most of the people in his town – at least the ones who come into the A&P – are "sheep," or followers, even "scared pigs in a chute" (29). He thinks everybody acts, dresses, looks, and probably even thinks the same. He's desperate to break out of the stuffy, boring mold he's falling into, but he just doesn't know how.
When he encounters the girl he nicknames Queenie, he sees a chance to transform his wishes into realities. By quitting his job and telling off his boss, Lengel, for how rude he was to the girls, Sammy experiences a coming of age. It's his first real taste of the power (and possible pain) of standing up for what he believes in.
Sammy is a character who the author identified with strongly. Updike, who was 29 when he wrote the story in 1961, says that he used Sammy as a mouthpiece for his own "lustful and quizzical feelings" (source). This sexiness helps make Sammy a fun and interesting character.