Topic > A&P by John Updike and Araby by James Joyce - 847

The two stories I chose are A&P by John Updike and Araby by James Joyce. Both stories tell about the social and philosophical differences of middle-class teenage boys, compared to the adults in the stories. In John Updike's short story A&P, the story is told in the first person by a teenage boy who works as a cashier at an A&P grocery store on a hot summer day. The story begins with the teenager named Sammy who becomes concerned by a group of three teenage girls who enter the grocery store wearing bathing suits. Sammy admires the girl's beauty as most nineteen-year-old teenage boys would, in a somewhat lewd and immature nature. His grammar is imperfect and he is clearly not from a wealthy family, his job seems to be a necessity for a child of a non-wealthy family. The name he gives to the girl who seems to be the object of his desire, Queenie, portrays a social difference from him. Sammy also imagines differences in class and lifestyle when she describes Queenie's voice as having "a kind of tone, the way it ticks off 'harvest' and 'snacks'." He imagines her with an aristocratic family life in describing “her father and the other men stood around in ice cream coats and bow ties and the women were in sandals and picking herring snacks with toothpicks from a large glass dish and holding drinks in their hands color of water with olives and sprigs of mint in it." Sammy compares the occasions when his parents serve their guests "lemonade and if it's a real bold affair Schlitz in tall glasses with 'They'll do it every time' cartoons printed on."Sammy does not seem to be content with his social position referring to "sheep-like customers who live five miles from the beach... middle of paper... things to get from both Arabia bazaar and Mangan's sister. He perceives that his world is increasingly insufficient and hinders the possibility of his fulfillment in life. The boy seems to imagine that all his happiness will be realized through this mission, only to have his dreams shattered when he arrives in Araby and finds it. most stalls closed. The ending leads to the discovery of a disappointing reality: he will bring nothing from Arabia to Mangan's sister and has become a creature driven and mocked by vanity. Works Cited Updike, John. "A&P." Literature and the writing process. Comp. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X Day, Robert Funk, Linda Coleman. Longman, 2010. Print. (Update 440-444) Joyce, James. "Dublin." fullbooks.com. David Reed Haradda, November 6, 2004. Web. April 27, 2011. . (Joyce)