A&P by John Updike and Araby by James Joyce Essay examples

The short story “A&P” written in 1961 by New Yorker, John Updike was written to picture an image in readers mind on the judgment he portrayed at the grocery store. Updike, known as Sammy in the short story, immediately judged three teenage girls who walked into their store on what they were wearing and how they were carrying their selves. He then later found himself becoming defensive when his store manager, Lengel, approached the girls on the bathing suites they were wearing in the store which was said to be against story policy. Sammy did not like Lengel approaching them and made a compulsive decision to quit his job. Sammy knew the position he was putting himself in but chose to stick with it. John Updike uses Symbolism, Imagery, and Similes in “A&P” to

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

Both stories delve into the unstable psyche of a young man who is faced with one of life's most difficult lessons: that things are not always as they appear to be. Telling the tale as a way of looking back on his life, the protagonist allows the reader to follow his life's lessons as they are learned, imparting upon the audience all the emotional pain and suffering endured for each one. The primary focal point is the young man's love for a completely unattainable girl who unknowingly riles the man into such a sexual and emotional frenzy that he begins to confuse "sexual impulses for those of honor and chivalry" (Wells, 1993, p. 127). It is this very situation of self-deception upon which both stories concentrate that brings the young man to his emotional knees as he is forced to "compensate for the emptiness and longing in the young boy's life" (Norris 309). As much as Updike's rendition is different from Joyce's original work, the two pieces are as closely related as any literary writings can be. Specifically addressing details, it can be argued that Updike missed no opportunity to fashion A & P as much after Araby as possible. For example, one aspect of womanhood that fascinates and intrigues both young men is the whiteness of the girls' skin. This explicit detail is not to be taken lightly in either piece, for the implication is integral to the other important story elements, particularly as they deal with female obsession. Focusing

In the story of, "Araby" James Joyce concentrated on three main themes that will explain the purpose of the narrative. The story unfolded on North Richmond Street, which is a street composed of two rows of houses, in a desolated neighborhood. Despite the dreary surroundings of "dark muddy lanes" and "ash pits" the boy tried to find evidence of love and beauty in his surroundings. Throughout the story, the boy went through a variety of changes that will pose as different themes of the story including alienation, transformation, and the meaning of religion (Borey).

James Joyce’s “Araby” is a short story narrated by an adolescent boy who falls in love with a nameless girl on North Richmond Street. Every day this boy watches her “brown figure,” which is “always in [his] eyes,” and chases after it (27). According to the boy, “lher image accompanie[s] [him] even in places the most hostile to romance” (27). He thinks of her bodily figure often, invokes her name “in strange prayers and praises”, and emits “flood[like]” tears at the mere thought of her (27). The boy exhibits all this emotion, despite the fact that he “had never spoken to her, except for a few casual words"(27). Therefore, when he finally has a conversation with her, about a Dublin bazaar called Araby, it causes him to become disoriented. The boy fails to concentrate at his Christian Brother School and at home, because Mangan’s sister finally talks to him. The boy, determined to get something for his lover at the bazaar she cannot attend, asks his uncle for money. However, to his distress, his uncle forgets and the boy is unable to attend the bazaar until “it [is] ten minutes to ten” (31). This delay and the long journey by train causes the boy to become irritated. His irritation soon turns to anger as he enters the bazaar only to find it practically empty except for two men with “English accents” and a female engaged in a conversation (32). At this point, the boy loses interest in buying anything at the bazaar for his lover and decides to feign interest to appease the

A coming of age story is when the protagonist experiences climatic event that leads them to adulthood. The event is usually tough but leads to a realization or epiphany. The short stories “A&P” by John Updike and “Araby” by James Joyce both reflect coming of age stories. In the story A&P, the narrator, Sammy quits his job to stand up for the three girls wearing “nothing but their bathing suits”() In the story Araby, the narrator shows himself growing up through discovering his sexuality. In the stories A&P and Araby there are strong similarities in the plot and setting, however they are also different in the imagery and figurative language.

“Araby,” a complex short story by James Joyce is narrated by a mature man who reflects upon an adolescent boy’s transition into adulthood. The story focuses on the events that brought the main character to face his disconnect of reality. Love plays a distinct role in the boy’s delusion of reality, which Joyce relays from the beginning of the story. Minor characters, such as Mangan’s sister, The priest, Mrs. Mercer, and his uncle hold a vital role in the boy’s shattered innocence. Joyce uses these characters to introduce to the boy the hypocrisy, vanity and illusion of adulthood by highlighting their faults and later linking them to his reality.

In his short story "Araby", James Joyce portrays a character who strives to achieve a goal and who comes to an epiphany through his failure to accomplish that goal. Written in the first person, "Araby" is about a man recalling an event from his childhood. The narrator's desire to be with the sister of his friend Mangan, leads him on a quest to bring back a gift from the carnival for the girl. It is the quest, the desire to be a knight in shining armor, that sends the narrator to the carnival and it's what he experienced and sees at the carnival that brings him to the realization that some dreams are just not attainable.

Through the use of literary devices such as symbol, setting, and imagery John Updike tells the story of the narrator and antagonist Sammy, a lowly nineteen-year-old cashier at a local grocery store north of Boston in his short story “A & P”. During what seems like an average day in the otherwise insular town, three girls close to Sammy’s age enter the A & P, all of which probably would not have caused such a ruckus had it not been for the fact that every one of them were clad in bathing suits, each more revealing than the next. Sammy is a dynamic character because he undergoes changes throughout the course of the story, making it somewhat of a coming of age tale. Later in the story, the scantily dressed girls cause a major confrontation between

A&P by John Updike and Araby by James Joyce are two short stories that have multiple differences and similarities. A&P is about a teenager and his lust for young ladies and Araby is about a young boy who had a crush on a older girl. I will be comparing and contrasting the portrayal of women, love and epiphany in the two short stories A&P and Araby.

In her story, "Araby," James Joyce concentrates on character rather than on plot to reveal the ironies inherent in self-deception. On one level "Araby" is a story of initiation, of a boy’s quest for the ideal. The quest ends in failure but results in an inner awareness and a first step into manhood. On another level the story consists of a grown man's remembered experience, for the story is told in retrospect by a man who looks back to a particular moment of intense meaning and insight. As such, the boy's experience is not restricted to youth's encounter with first love. Rather, it is a portrayal of a continuing problem all through life: the incompatibility of the ideal, of the dream

Our initial impression of Sammy would cause us to think that he hates women but it is the complete opposite. He just has a very imaginative mind with different opinions. The girls finish shopping and enter Sammy’s lane. As he is ringing them up, Lengel, the store manager walks in and notices the girls. He scolds them on their clothing choice and demands appropriate attire from them. The girls get embarrassed and Sammy clearly sees that. As they begin to walk out of the store, Sammy quits his job because he wants to be seen as the bigger person in that whole situation, a hero. When he leaves the store, the girls are gone. They were not around to see his

“Araby,” is a story of emotional passion carefully articulated by the author, James Joyce, to mark the end of childhood and the start of adolescence. It is told from the perspective of a young boy who is filled with lust for his friend, Mangan’s, sister. He lives in a cheerless town on a street hosting simply complacent families who own brown faced houses that stare vacantly into one another. The boy temporarily detaches himself from this gloomy atmosphere and dwells on the keeper of his affection. Only when he journeys to a festival titled Araby, does he realize that his attempt at winning the heart of Mangan’s sister has been done in an act of vanity. Joyce takes advantage of literary elements such as diction and imagery to convey an at times dreary and foolishly optimistic tone.

James Joyce’s short story Araby delves into the life of a young adolescent who lives on North Richmond Street in Dublin, Ireland. Narrated in the boys’ perspective, he recounts memories of playing with friends and of the priest who died in the house before his family moved in. With unrestrained enthusiasm, the boy expresses a confused infatuation with the sister of his friend Mangan. She constantly roams his thoughts and fantasies although he only ever catches glimpses of her. One evening she speaks to him, confiding that she is unable to visit Araby, a bazaar. Stunned by the sudden conversation, the boy promises he will go and bring her back a small memento. In anticipation, the boy launches into a period of restless waiting and distraction

However, when the girls were embarrassed by Lengel Sammy's personality changed. He stood up to his manager and quit his job. This is demonstrated in the dialogue between Sammy and Lengel which states: