Araby And A & P Compare And Contrast

In “A&P” by John Updike, the protagonist Sammy struggles for freedom. He fantasizes of breaking free from authorities and his working class position in A&P. He becomes smitten when he encounter with a girl he calls Queenie, who becomes a symbol that represents his longing desires where he sees an opportunity to escape through her. On the other hand, in “Araby” James Joyce shows an inexperience narrator who looks for an escape since he is always alienated in darkness so he seeks for a "light," in which, he sees it in Mangan’s sister. He instantly became captivated with her, ultimately thinking of going to the Bazaar to give her a gift will grant a secure relationship between them. Despite the differences, the role of romance comes into play when both

narrators are absorbed in their imagination in which their essences become disoriented. Eventually, that leads their illusions to become diminished hence, experiencing the consequences of their infatuation.
For Joyce, the narrator’s dull life seems to have meaning when it comes to Mangan’s sister as she appears to be new and mysterious. Joyce states that “in the street the houses had grown sombre…and the cold air stung us and we played till our bodies glowed. Our shots echoed in the silent street” (107). This demonstration of the setting is set to be gloomy, which explores the notion that the narrator lives in a dark place and spends most of his time in the cold alone. However, when he sees Mangan’s sister the narrator describes her as “some distant lamp or lighted window gleamed” (Joyce 108). This reveals that he sees Mangan’s sister as the only light, therefore, escaping from his dismal world. Also, the narrator’s thoughts seem like a young boy beginning to explore his inner feelings which signify his inexperience.
However, for Updike, Sammy finds Queenie to be amusing; out of the ordinary. Sammy calls the customers “sheep pushing their carts down the aisle” and that “the girls were walking against the usual traffic (not that we have one-way signs or anything) - were pretty hilarious (295),” basically calling the shoppers senseless as they follow each other like a rigid society. Nevertheless, he finds it amusing that the girl disrupted that sense of order. Updike displays that “you never know for sure how girls’ minds work (do you really think it’s a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar?)” (295). Sammy immaturely assumes that girls do not have a brain because he does not understand how a girl thinks. Despite Sammy’s comments, he is fascinated by her: “The one that caught my eyes first was the one in the plaid green two-piece…with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it” (294). This shows his infatuation for Queenie because Sammy described her appearance erotically and she seems to have a desirable carefree life unlike the uninteresting A&P. Sammy wants to break free from authorities and become free in expressing in terms of his youth.
Both protagonists cannot distinguish between what is real and fake and are absorbed in their imagination. Joyce shows that the narrator deliberates that “all my senses seemed to desire to veil themselves and, feeling that I was about to slip from them, I pressed the palms of my hands together until they trembled, murmuring: “O love! O love!” many times” (Joyce 108). This shows the narrator’s affection for Mangan’s sister and he is deluded with his erotic desires for her along with her appearance. The narrator considers what he is feeling as love because it is the only thing that seems new and mysterious to him. The narrator had “never spoken to her, except for a few casual words, and yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood” (108). The narrator is inexperienced when it comes to love since he does not know her well, yet he fell in love with her. The narrator feels good about this new feeling from his miserable life and created an illusion that she would feel the same way, but, it is all in his head.
Similarly, Updike shows Sammy’s illusion thoughts about Queenie: “all of a sudden I slid right down to her voice in the living room. Her father and the other men were standing around in ice-cream coats… toothpicks off a big glass plate…When my parents have somebody over they get lemonade” (297). Based on Queenie’s voice, he assumes that she is in a higher social class than him. This reveals his inner desires for power and Sammy imagines and compares their lives by showing her parent have coats and snacks while his parents just have lemonade. He wishes that he was in Queenie’s place, thus creating an illusion of having power through her. Updike shows that the manager Lengel points out on the girls inappropriate attire and they “are in a hurry to get out, so I say “I quit” to Lengel quick enough for them to hear, hoping they’ll stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero” (298). Sammy believes the girls cannot handle a little embarrassment, and want to be the hero, when in reality he is using that as an excuse to quit. He is finding his way to escape the boring A&P through her.
Both protagonists focus on the boy’s metamorphosis and the epiphany that their misconception is meaningless when they enter the harsh reality of the adult world.

when the narrator wants to give Mangan’s sister a gift at the bazaar as a token of his love displaying that “the syllables of the word Araby were called to me through the silence in which my soul luxuriated and casted Eastern enchantment over me” (108). He expects the bazaar to be colorful and bright just like her. However, when the narrator reaches to the bazaar he sees that the gallery at the bazaar was closing and the lights was out leading the place to become dark (111). The narrator suddenly noticed that the Bazaar was not as bright and colorful as he expected it to be and that giving Mangan’s sister a gift is meaningless because it does not establish a relationship between them. The Bazaar is dark just like before and as the narrator is glaring at the darkness he saw himself “as a creature driven and derided by vanity” (111). This discusses that the narrator is in agony understanding that nothing has changed his dark world and accepting it was childish. Hence, waking up from his fantasy and experiencing his first let down as a part of growing

up.
Just like Updike, when Sammy was quitting he saw that “Lengel sighs and begins to look very patient and old and gray... “Sammy, you don’t want to do this to you Mom and Dad,” he tells me.... But it seems to me that once you begin a gesture its fatal not to go through with it” (298). Sammy believes that one should stick up to their own words and if he does not quit, then he will be accepting the norms in A&P where people follow each other. Instead of forgetting his own beliefs, he wants to prove a point and wants to be in a world like Queenie where it is more sophisticated unlike the one in A&P. However, he immaturely does not see what a burden that choice would be on his parents. Unfortunately, it was futile since Queenie was not there to hear it because she left and he became unemployed. Sammy looks “back in the big windows…I could see Lengel in my place in the slot, checking the sheep thought. His face was dark grey and his back stiff, as if he’s just had an injection of iron, and my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter”(299). Now Sammy has to face the consequences of his childish impulsive action by facing his parents, and is left with the concept that he does not know what the future would hold for him.
Both authors Updike and Joyce show that the protagonists want to escape and break free from their gloomy world. They both share the same concept of coming of age and learning a valuable lesson at the end when facing their consequences. Both Sammy and the narrator created an illusion of their love and in those illusions they reflected their emptiness through the girls to make them feel good about themselves in their depressed life. Although, both protagonists’ ideas are similar, they both try different ways of breaking free. For example, Sammy quits his job to break free in A&P in the hope of having some sense of power. While the narrator in “Araby” wants to experience something cheerful and bright like Mangan’s sister and the Bazaar in his dark world. However, holding on to those delusions was not real leaving both of the boys heartbroken.