Comparing and Contrasting Two Stories with Similar Characters and Themes
In this essay I will discuss the short stories A&P by John Updike and Araby by James Joyce which share several similarities as well as distinct differences between the themes and the main characters. I will compare or contrast two or more significant literary elements from each of the stories and discuss how those elements contribute to each story’s theme.
In A&P by John Updike the protagonist Sammy is a young 19 year old cashier that works in the A&P grocery story and has an infatuation with a female patron. Sammy’s manger embarrasses the young patron and as a sign of solidarity Sammy quits his job. Araby by James Joyce is narrated by a young unnamed boy who was
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enamored with the sister of a friend. The unnamed boy unsuccessfully tries to gain her attention by promising her a gift from the bazaar. In both stories the main characters are narrated in first person. Sammy from A&P appears to be a round character while the unnamed boy is a flat character. The unnamed boy’s character does not change at all throughout the story while Sammy surprises the reader by unexpectedly quitting his job. Although both protagonist have a fixation with a female characters from their respective stories Sammy’s fixation with “queenie” seems to be different in nature. The unnamed boy however was not his attraction was innocent and adolescent in nature. Both characters attempted to perform a chivalrous acts with ulterior motives but their expectation were different. Sammy thought by quitting his job the act would present him with a window of opportunity while the young unnamed boy only wanted attention. In conclusion Araby and A&P have very similar themes.
The narrator of both stories did an outstanding job in setting the scene for the readers. The theme of both stories to me is about lessons learned. In Araby the young unnamed protagonist makes a promise to bring back a gift from a bazaar and was unable to purchase the gift leaving him disappointed and angry. “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, 1914). To me the young man is angry because of all the trials and tribulations he put himself through to get a gift to impress a young lady who really was not interested in him anyway. And Sammy from A&P although a little older than the unnamed boy from Araby also shared a fixation with a female character. Sammy thought because he quit his job to make a statement to his boss Mr. Lengel that she (Queenie) would be outside waiting for him. “I look around for my girls, but they're gone, of course. There wasn't anybody but some young married screaming with her children about some candy they didn't get by the door of a powder-blue Falcon station wagon” (Updike, 1961). Sammie assumed that this act of solidarity would place him in an advantageous position with the young lady. Sammy who was surely disappointed when his expectations were not met did learn a valuable lesson. According to Sammy “I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter” (Udike,
1961).
Although Rivka Galchen’s “Wild Berry Blue” and James Joyce’s “Araby” have some differences, there even more similarities. The narrators, their journeys, and their conclusions at the end of their journeys are analogous. Both attempt to win over the object of their affection through a gift, and yet thorough the purchase of that gift they realize their folly in love. As Joyce wrote “Araby” in 1914, yet Galchen did not write “Wild Berry Blue” until nearly 100 years later, Galchen may have written “Wild Berry Blue” as a modern retelling of Joyce’s classic short story.
John Updike's A & P and James Joyce's Araby share many of the same literary traits. The primary focus of the two stories revolves around a young man who is compelled to decipher the difference between cruel reality and the fantasies of romance that play in his head. That the man does, indeed, discover the difference is what sets him off into emotional collapse. One of the main similarities between the two stories is the fact that the main character, who is also the protagonist, has built up incredible, yet unrealistic, expectations of women, having focused upon one in particular towards which he places all his unrequited affection. The expectation these men hold when finally "face to face with their object of worship" (Wells, 1993, p. 127) is what sends the final and crushing blow of reality: The rejection they suffer is far too great for them to bear.
Within every story or poem, there is always an interpretation made by the reader, whether right or wrong. In doing so, one must thoughtfully analyze all aspects of the story in order to make the most accurate assessment based on the literary elements the author has used. Compared and contrasted within the two short stories, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, and John Updike’s “A&P,” the literary elements character and theme are made evident. These two elements are prominent in each of the differing stories yet similarities are found through each by studying the elements. The girls’ innocence and naivety as characters act as passages to show something superior, oppression in society shown towards women that is not equally shown towards men.
John Updike’s “A & P,” Richard Wright’s “The Man Who Was Almost a Man,” and James Joyce’s “Araby”
Wells, Walter. "John Updike's 'A&P': a return visit to 'Araby.'" Studies in Short Fiction 30, 2 (Spring 1993)
Updike, John. "A&P." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 1991.1026-1030.
Wells, Walter. "John Updike's 'A & P': A Return Visit to Araby." Studies in Short Fiction 30.2 (Spring 1993): 127-133. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Anna J. Sheets. Vol. 27. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998. Literature Resource Center. Web. 5 Mar. 2014.
Although “Araby” is a fairly short story, author James Joyce does a remarkable job of discussing some very deep issues within it. On the surface it appears to be a story of a boy's trip to the market to get a gift for the girl he has a crush on. Yet deeper down it is about a lonely boy who makes a pilgrimage to an eastern-styled bazaar in hopes that it will somehow alleviate his miserable life. James Joyce’s uses the boy in “Araby” to expose a story of isolation and lack of control. These themes of alienation and control are ultimately linked because it will be seen that the source of the boy's emotional distance is his lack of control over his life.
In the introductions of James Joyce's Araby and Katherine Mansfield's The Garden Party the main themes of the stories are immediately introduced, as in any effective short story. Through the detailed descriptions of the settings, the central themes of each story are presented. The relationships between the main characters and their respective families are introduced and provide background information which helps to further understand the themes of each story. The main themes of the stories are further developed when the characters are introduced. In the introductions of Araby and The Garden Party the main themes are introduced through the descriptive settings, the family backgrounds, and the development of the main characters.
Written by the same author, “Araby” and “Eveline” are very similar in several aspects, both formal and contextual. As they are taken from the same collection of the short stories, namely “Dubliners”, these works develop the same theme – the life of those living in Dublin, their joys and problems, their ups and downs; therefore, it is logical that they share many similarities which may be traced while analyzing the main characters, the plot peculiarities, the themes and the conflict, the mood and the tone etc.
Both short stories are placed in between the mid nineteenth century and early twentieth century. A&P is based in a grocery store “five miles from a beach, with a big summer colony out on the point, but [...] right in the middle of town” (463). John Updike sets a light hearted summer scene. In Araby, the setting is in the middle of winter. Night falls early and the cold air stings. James Joyce creates a very dank, somber
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.
The visual and emblematic details established throughout the story are highly concentrated, with Araby culminating, largely, in the epiphany of the young unnamed narrator. To Joyce, an epiphany occurs at the instant when the essence of a character is revealed, when all the forces that endure and influence his life converge, and when we can, in that moment, comprehend and appreciate him. As follows, Araby is a story of an epiphany that is centered on a principal deception or failure, a fundamental imperfection that results in an ultimate realization of life, spirit, and disillusionment. The significance is exposed in the boy’s intellectual and emotional journey from first love to first dejection,
Araby and A & P are both interesting short stories written by authors who were famous in their own ways. A & P was written by John Updike in 1961, while Araby was written by James Joyce in 1914. There are many obvious similarities between the two stories, however, there are many subtle differences also. Some of the clear differences that was emphasized includes the young boys overall introduction in the story and personality, the setting of the story, and of course the epiphanies of the young boys.
In many cultures, childhood is considered a carefree time, with none of the worries and constraints of the “real world.” In “Araby,” Joyce presents a story in which the central themes are frustration, the longing for adventure and escape, and the awakening and confusing passion experienced by a boy on the brink of adulthood. The author uses a single narrator, a somber setting, and symbolism, in a minimalist style, to remind the reader of the struggles and disappointments we all face, even during a time that is supposed to be carefree.