A & P And Araby's Epiphany

Short stories written by authors like John Updike and James Joyce can put so much depth and insight in just a few pages. The characters they create in their short stories experience an epiphany after their quest. “A&P” by John Updike and “Araby” by James Joyce provide the most textual evidence for the true significance of an epiphany. In each story by James Joyce and John Updike combine the challenges of desire, quests, and the true significance of an epiphany.

In “A&P” the main character Sammy is a typical teenager with a mundane job. When three girl’s in bathing suits walk into the store he is gazing upon them the entire time. Furthermore, Sammy’s initial quest was to defend the girl’s honor from his managers blunt embarrassing remarks,

“You’ll feel this for the rest of your life […] I know that’s true, too, but remembering how he made that pretty girl blush makes me so scrunchy inside” (Updike, 30). Once Sammy’s manager embarrasses the three girls in bathing suits, Sammy views this as a quest to defend the girls. Even though, Sammy genuinely thinks his quest has value, it does not. The girls in bathing suits are not worth defending for Sammy because his gesture goes unnoticed. Also, Sammy is not the best example of a hero type character with a righteous quest, “ […] the plump one in plaid, that I liked better from the back—a really sweet can—pipes up[…]” (Updike, 15). Sammy’s intentions to defend the girls in bathing suits are not honorable. Therefore Sammy wants to defend the girls for his own sexual purpose. Unfortunately, the girls in bathing suits are undermining Sammy’s confidence. In addition, Sammy then undergoes his own epiphany, “[…] and my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter” (Updike, 26). To explain, Sammy is realizing he is making an impulsive decision to quit his job for three girls he barely knows. Sammy’s

Here, the narrator of the story is an adolescent boy in love. The narrator’s quest was to buy a gift for a girl named Mangan that he deeply loves. This quest had an obvious meaning in his perspective. With this idea in mind, he is even imagining himself as a type of hero, “I imagined that I bore my chalice safely through a throng of foes” (Joyce, 5). The author sees himself as a sort of hero who must complete his quest. Like in every quest, he is determined, but that does not guarantee victory. Another key point, when he arrives at the bazaar, “Nearly all the stalls were closed and the greater part of the hall was in darkness. I recognized a silence like that which pervades a church after a service” (Joyce, 25). This was the boy’s biggest opportunity to show his love for Mangan. This is going to cause a heavy burden on the narrator. Also, in a moment of clarity he now understands the meaning of his epiphany. To emphasize, in darkness he realizes his love cannot be returned, “[…] I knew my stay was useless […] Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger” (Joyce, 37). This shows the change in the character from a boy with a childish vision to him facing the harsh realities. Also, the narrator is even crying because he now realizes Mangan will never love him whether or not he bought a token of his