A & P And Araby By John Updike And James Joyce

John Updike's "A & P" and James Joyce's "Araby" are very similar. The theme of the two stories is about a young man who is interested in figuring out the difference between reality and the fantasies of romance that play in his head and of the mistaken thoughts each has about their world, the girls, and themselves. One of the main similarities between the two stories is the fact that the main character has built up unrealistic expectations of women. Both characters have focused upon one girl which they place all their affection. Both Sammy and the boy suffer rejection in the end. Both stories also dive into the unstable mind of a young man who is faced with one of life's most difficult lessons. Their

In James Joyce's short stories, “The Sisters” and “Araby” the author describes two different characters who find “love”, but ending up colliding their religious beliefs and sexual awakening leaving themselves in confusion. The symbol of how the chalice is used in both these stories resemble different but strong meanings behind each of the stories.

John Updike's story "A&P" talks about a 19-year old lad, Sammy, who has a job at the local grocery store, the A&P. Sammy works at the register in the store and is always observing the people who walk in and out each day. On this particular day that the story takes place, Sammy is caught off guard when a cluster of girls walk into the store wearing just their bathing suits. This caught Sammy's attention because the nearest beach is five miles away and he could not figure out why they would still be in their suits. Sammy continues to overlook the girls in the store throughout their endeavor to pick up some item's that they were sent in for. While they are wandering around the store Sammy watches the reactions of other customers, is yelled at

John Updike's “A & P” and James Joyce's “Araby” are very similar. The theme of the two stories is about a young man who is interested in figuring out the difference between reality and the fantasies of romance that play in his head and of the mistaken thoughts each has about their world, the girls, and themselves. One of the main similarities between the two stories is the fact that the main character has built up unrealistic expectations of women. Both characters have focused upon one girl in which they place all their affection. Both Sammy and the boy suffer rejection in the end. Both stories also dive into the unstable mind of a young man who is faced with one of life's most difficult lessons. The lesson learned is that things are not

John Updike's A & P and James Joyce's Araby share many of the same literary traits. The primary focus of the two stories revolves around a young man who is compelled to decipher the difference between cruel reality and the fantasies of romance that play in his head. That the man does, indeed, discover the difference is what sets him off into emotional collapse. One of the main similarities between the two stories is the fact that the main character, who is also the protagonist, has built up incredible, yet unrealistic, expectations of women, having focused upon one in particular towards which he places all his unrequited affection. The expectation these men hold when finally "face

John Updike’s A&P and James Joyce’s Araby are very similar yet very different in many ways. Each short story has a normal kid with an obsession over a girl. The big difference between Sammy in A&P and Jimmy in Araby is just that they were raised differently and have different values. The way Jimmy talks about his fantasy girl is on a more religious level while Sammy in other words is kind of impolite about how he describes the three girls that walk into the market. From the narrator’s point of view in each story to the use of imagery and the main characters motivation, each story has multiple points of comparison to compare and contrast.

John Updike, one of the most forward-thinking and socially provocative writers of the 50s and 60s, is known for his “incisive presentation of the quandaries of contemporary personal and social life.” (Lawn 529) Updike graduated from Harvard University and wrote for one of the more cutting edge publications like The New Yorker- both are notoriously ahead of their time and harbor controversial ideas. In his short story “A&P”, Updike reveals a young man named Sammy in a society on the brink of a social revolution- one in which a group of girls and an innocent cashier will unknowingly lead. Updike, through symbolism and syntax, shows how the girls are leading the revolution, how Sammy is feeling the wrath of this revolution, and

In both “Araby” by James Joyce and “ A&P” by John Updike had many similarities for instance, In Araby the narrator fantasized about this amazing relationship with Mangan’s sister and the bazaar which symbolized his journey. The narrator and Mangan's sister never talked to each other and he has never seen her, only her “brown figure” (108). When the narrator and Mangan’s sister finally had a conversation together he realized that she was not interested in him because their conversation was very bland and quick “O, I never said such a thing!''O, but you did!' ' O, but I didn't!”

In the history of John Updike A & P and the story of James Joyce Araby, both of them are personal stories, since in both of them uses first person writing style, and also in both of them tell us through the stories, their feelings in a specific moment, or how what they reacted to a specific event. hIn both stories uses the contrast between darkness and lightness to transmit a specific message, in A & P, John Updike uses the cashier named Sammy to perceive a sterile world, ugly and boring, always doing the same thing: “I bet you could set off dynamite in an A & P and the people would by and large keep reaching and checking oatmeal off their lists” (Updike 594). Suddenly, a young girl and her two friends enters to the A & P supermarket in bathing suits.

Light has almost always been used to represent hope and used for foreshadowing an opportunity after something bad has happened. Darkness has also always represented despair. James Joyce and James Baldwin expand on each of these words with these specific connotations in their short stories. “Araby” by James Joyce follows along with a boy on his quest to buy something for a girl he loves who is much older than him. On his quest, there are examples of light and darkness to represent hope for romantic love and the realization of his inappropriate observations which led to darkness and confusion. “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin follows the relationship of the narrator and his brother, who just got out of jail for his use of heroin. At the beginning, the narrator doesn’t support Sonny’s dream of becoming a jazz pianist and by the end of the story, the narrator finally sees who Sonny is and what he is made out of when he watches him perform. In both stories, light and darkness are used to represent hope and despair, but while “Araby” ends in complete darkness due to the narrator’s religious epiphany that came through his observations of Mangan’s sister, “Sonny’s Blues” ends in lightness due to the narrator’s epiphany that ignites the restoration between two brothers.

James Joyce's short story "Araby" is a story that is about a nameless young boy having a crush on his friend’s sister, and how he goes on a quest to make her notice him but to come to the realization that these actions are childish and immature. Joyce introduces where the boy lives, and his thoughts, and how he feels about the area that he his living in. Joyce also shows how the boy only sees the darkness and feels disgusted for his simple life, but that changes when he sees his friend’s sister and how that lightens up his day. His actions will lead him far away from his personal goals.

James Joyce's story Araby is an affection story of a kid living in North Richmond Street. He goes gaga for his companion Mangan's sister. In any case, he manufactures all his optimistic dream around her quiet picture which is his spine in a generally dull every day life. His force for her develops and gets to be bound with an inactive sexual charge. At long last the two meet and she alludes to an oriental reasonable called Araby where she would have gotten a kick out of the chance to go yet can't go as their school fest has conflicted with its dates. She doesn't generally teach him to go to the spot yet the kid's whole force now moves to Araby as that one authoritative word talked by her. It turns into her. He conceptualizes it as a dream place

The short story, “Araby” by James Joyce begins as the narrator, who never reveals his name, describes his street and home as a quiet, somber place that he has grown up in. In the following paragraphs, he describes how in the winter the boy and his friends would play in the streets before dinner. When the boys had to go in he would watch Mangan’s sister, who he has had affection for ages now. The author continues to describe how the boy becomes obsessive over Mangan’s sister, describing how he watches her every morning and thinks of her in hostile places. After years of casual talk, Mangan’s sister finally speaks to the boy, asking if he was attending the bazaar, Araby. When the girl tells him she could not attend the boy implores that he would

James Joyce's “Araby” and John Updike's “A & P” are two stories which, in spite of their many differences, share many similarities in their endings. The primary focus of both of these initiation stories revolves around adolescent protagonists who come into conflict with their unrealistic expectations of women and their societies. Although the boys use different approaches in pursuit of their ideal, both narrators face a radical shift in their attitudes as they transit into adulthood.

A person’s life is often journey of study and learning from errors and mistakes made in the past. In both James Joyce’s Araby and John Updike’s A&P, the main characters, subjected to the events of their respective stories, are forced to reflect upon their actions which failed to accomplish their original goal in impressing another character. Evidently, there is a similar thematic element that emerges from incidents in both short stories, which show maturity as an arduous process of learning from failures and a loss of innocence. By analyzing the consequences of the interaction of each main character, the Narrator in Araby and Sammy in A&P; and their persons of infatuation, Mangan’s sister and Queenie, respectively; both protagonists realize and mature through their respective failures.