A&P vs Araby

In this essay I hope to show differences between John Updike’s A&P and James Joyce’s Arbay. Some of the things are that both of the authors talk about the same idea of a young boy’s growth for their adolescences. These boys need a lot more experience with the real world this comes with time, age and also experience. What is it like for Sammy to grow up with his parents and arbay to grow up with his aunt and uncle? In these essays what would you do if you were in the same situation as these boys? How do these boys need to grow up and mature?

Or do you think that their actions might be a little overboard Even though John Updikes’s and James Joyce differ in stories they both are talking about the same type of situation two boys that are growing up from their different situations from their adolesonces. This common ground becomes clear through the way both of the authors wrote their essays. In John Updike’s essay Sammy Works for A&p when he saw a group of girls come into the store while he was working right away he judged them on what they were wearing and how they looked not even to stop to think about anything about there personality’s.

In James Joyce’s essay the author refers to the girl of his his dreams as Megan’s sister? What is her name does he know anything about her. You can see where these stories are starting to one another to relate to one another. In John Updike’s essay A&P Sammy Is telling the story from his perspective witch makes the essay less interesting in my opinion. On the Other hand with James Joyce’s essay Arbay he is a little bit more Experienced and very articulate with his words witch makes the essay more interesting.

Sammy from A&P has become very aggravated at his job because the customers are very inconsiderate for many different reasons: As he mentions “She’s one of the these cash register witches” (227). That gave him hell beause he rang up a box of Hiho crackers two times by mistake. Sammy really got aggravated after that incident happened at work I think that really started to get him aggravated at that point he was really starting to think rationally and not in a mature manner. We see the author and main character of Araby as he battles with his adulthood

Emotions as he tries to understand his feelings towards Megan’s sister every morning He follows her but hardly speaks to her Still “her name was like a summons to all my Foolish blood” (227). He is still a boy, since he is too scared to approach her but dealing With adult feelings which he does not understand? His anger is shown at the end of the Story, since the bazaar is closed and there is nothing he can get for her and he says “he Sees himself as a creature driven and derided by vanity” This again shows the battle of

Hormones as he sees his feelings being based on how he can impress Megan’s sister. Both boys are going through growing into adulthood differently in their stories Sammy being at the A&P sees his store as the average place where the boring, ugly Average people go the girls he sees come in represent a fantasy of his the better Merchandise that is better than average the main character of Araby also has a fantasy But in his turn to adulthood he tries to buy the girl of his dreams an object Therefore, It’s a subject shown as the boys are growing into adulthood it is frustrating to both

Since the boy in Araby is unable to attain anything for the sister, and Sammy sees the Merchandise at A&P as average and meaningless anyway Vanity is frustrating because a lot of girls like physical things and gifts from boys and for the boy in Araby he is not able to get this and therefore has failed in being able to impress the girl Sammy sees the A&P as not being good enough for the bathing suit girls which maybe why he decides it is not good enough for him either. One thing I want to point out is that in A&P we see the difference between omeone in adulthood and someone growing into it While Sammy wishes to see the girls in their bathing suits that come into A&P, his manager scolds the girls, telling them they have too little clothing Sammy here represents one side of pre-adulthood, where in his mind the girls are better than the average woman who shop in A&P, the ones who are “house slaves in pin curlers” and “women with six children and varicose veins mapping their legs” (64).

His manager is the other side well into his adulthood who sees the girls as being indecent, and even says something about the next time they will ave to come in “with their shoulders covered” (64) Sammy is so angered at this he quits which shows the level of emotion in the theme of growing into adulthood His Hormones have gotten the best of his reason and he acts upon his emotions. Although there are definite differences in “Arabay” and “A&P,” we see the same theme of growing into adulthood in both stories This is not an easy task Both Sammy and the boy from Arabay find themselves frustrated as they go through their thoughts Sammy is concerned with quality which is something he sees little of in the

A&P, in both his judgment of the A&P and women that usually are shopping in it The author of Arabay is also concerned with quality on a different level He hopes to get a good present for his friend’s sister that is the girl he is feeling his adulthood directed on. He is unhappy when he comes to the bazaar, and sees that most of the things are gone and he is unable to provide something to the girl of his dreams that satisfies him. In both stories the boys share a common frustration with their feelings and change in attitudes, which show the inner turmoil of hormones, and their progress to adulthood.