'Checking Out' A&P In John Updike's short story "A&P", the use of characterization and setting help to propel the reader into the somewhat conflict-ridden mind of Sammy, the protagonist. Where Sammy is and who he is surrounded by cause him to rebel against something with very little thought. Sammy lives in a quiet, aseptic town, surrounded by the usual small town people: nosy and close-minded. As Sammy senses himself falling into the cast of an older generation, his need to break away surfaces. Anyone who has come to be an adolescent in a small town knows the innate need and the cultured want to break away, to breathe new air and to feel new wind. One has th