Similarities Between Araby And A & P

In the short stories “Araby” by James Joyce and “A&P” by John Updike, the true nature of adolescence receives the highlight through extremely similar claims established through two alike scenarios. Both reveal actions of a boy in his adolescence that result in a conclusion to some realization. “Araby” and “A&P” relate in their similarities stemming from acting on immature impulses resulting in failure and realization of practicality, encompassing adolescence in its most natural and typical nature expressed through similar plots. The first similarity shared between the two stories chronologically exists the not-so awareness that the two boys, each the main character of his story, acquire of the girls they fancied. The main character in “Araby”

In “Araby”, the boy acts without thinking when he puts his best efforts forth to go to the bazaar, even at such an inconvenient time, simply because the girl suggested “it’s well for you” (Joyce 305). Sammy’s instant actions in an effort to win over the girls portrays another aspect of adolescence that the author symbolizes, paralleling those addressed in “Araby”. Through ignorant perspectives and overall mindsets for the most part, the boy from each story acts upon impulse and not once considers his actions. This shared trait absorbs into the broad topic of adolescence of which the entireties refer to. The way the girls caught the attention of Sammy led up to his actions that anchored no hesitation, and his efforts didn’t pay off, as he was “hoping they’ll stop and watch me, their unexpected hero” (Updike 628), but the girls only left without any notice of Sammy’s efforts. As in “Araby”, the first time the girl speaks to the boy, she suggests visiting the bazaar, and he accepts it without hesitation. Actions on impulse conducts another shared factor among the two short