“Araby” and “A&P” are two short stories written by two well-known writers – James Joice and John Updike respectively. Despite of being created in quite different times and countries, these two stories are very similar as per their plots and characters.
In both stories two young boys live quite tedious lives in their little towns. In “Araby” the boy living with his aunt and uncle describes his town as being sombre and dull with imperturbable houses and half-ruined livings. Everything in this description shows the boy’s negative attitude toward this town since a no positive word is used for its depiction: “The other houses of the street (..) gazed at one another with brown imperturbable faces” (Joice 1).
The same we see in “A&P” where the main character of the story Sammy, who is the cashier in a supermarket sinks into the mire of his monotonous and dull work. Sammy, however, in contrast with the boy from “Araby” describes his life with a lot of humor always interacting with the readers by making questions: “what do these bums do with all that pineapple juice' I've often asked myself” (Updike 3).
The lives of both characters change dramatically when they fall in love with unsuspecting girls. The boy from “Araby” secretly loves the sister of one of his companions, and Sammy falls in love with one his customers – a beautiful young girl who suddenly comes in his supermarket in a bathing suit accompanied by her girlfriends. For both of them these girls are the light in their humble lives, and they try to do their best to become the heroes for them. The boy from “Araby” promises to buy something in the bazaar called Araby for the girl he loves since she can’t go there on her own. Sammy argues with his manager because the latter scolds his Queenie in public for coming in the supermarket half-naked.
The result of their heroism is miserable as the boy from “Araby” realizes that he does not have enough money to buy something valuable for his girl whereas Sammy regrets his careless action understanding that he lost his job.
Both stories describe unsuccessful attempts of two boys to run away from their ordinary lives where they got stuck and which they hate. Both of them understand at the end that this runaway is impossible: the boy from “Araby” is too young to be able to make expensive presents and Sammy’s only chance of earning his life is the work in the supermarket. This makes both story dramatic despite of a hilarious tone of Updike’s one.
The places where all the events described in these stories happen – “Araby” and “A&P” metaphorically incarnate the routine of the characters’ lives where many people (called sheep in “A&P”) are busy with their everyday tasks and do not notice the boys’ sufferings caused by the dreams which will never come true. The Dream is at the center of two stories. Both boys dream of the girls who will never love them, and this understanding is unbearable for the characters.
In conclusion, it is not surprising that the style of two stories is very different because they were written in quite different epochs. However, in both of them we find very sensual and vivid descriptions of female beauty divinified by the poor heroes, the beauty which make them to change their lives and their views dramatically but not the world around which remains ordinary and which does not let them go easily.
Works cited
Joice, J. Araby. n.d. Web 10 March 2016 <http://www.dpcdsb.org/NR/rdonlyres/F6177888-9FFF-429A-A76B-E3D50A131CAC/123475/Araby.pdf>
Updike, J. A&P. n.d. Web 10 March 2016 < http://www.saginaw-twp.k12.mi.us/view/7889.pdf>
