A & P by John Updike and Araby by James Joyce

John Updike is considered one of the greatest writers in modern American history. He is known for the idea that seemingly ordinary aspects of American life are actually quite fascinating. He wanted readers to see the beauty and magic of life, so he tried to describe everyday things using the most clear but beautiful language possible. Many of Updike’s pieces are drawn from his own life such as his marriage and his boyhood, as shown in three of his short stories: “A&P”, “Ace in the Hole”, and “Pigeon Feathers”. Updike’s narrative technique is explored through the analysis of plot structure, thematic patterning, and irony in these three short stories.

The short story “A&P” written in 1961 by New Yorker, John Updike was written to picture an image in readers mind on the judgment he portrayed at the grocery store. Updike, known as Sammy in the short story, immediately judged three teenage girls who walked into their store on what they were wearing and how they were carrying their selves. He then later found himself becoming defensive when his store manager, Lengel, approached the girls on the bathing suites they were wearing in the store which was said to be against story policy. Sammy did not like Lengel approaching them and made a compulsive decision to quit his job. Sammy knew the position he was putting himself in but chose to stick with it. John Updike uses Symbolism, Imagery, and Similes in “A&P” to

In a continuing attempt to reveal this societal conflict, Updike introduces the character of Lengel, the manager. He accosts the girls and starts to make a scene accusing them of being indecent: “‘Girls, I don’t want to argue with you. After this come in here with your shoulders covered. It’s our policy.’ He turns his back. That’s policy for you. Policy is what the kingpins want. What others want is juvenile delinquency” (Updike, 600). When the store manager confronts three girls in swimsuits because of their indecency (lack of proper clothes), they are forced to leave humiliated. At this moment Sammy makes the choice to quit his job in protest of the manager’s handling of the situation. In his mind, and arguably in John Updike’s mind, the standards of walking into a grocery store in a bathing suit and humiliating someone in front of other people are both unacceptable. This part of the story is pivotal for one main reason: a voice in the business community is speaking. As a manager at A & P, Lengel is the voice of The Establishment and guards the community ethics (Porter, 321). Queenie’s (the ringleader of the girls) blush is what moves Sammy to action. Here are three girls who came in from the beach to purchase only one thing, and this kingpin is embarrassing them in order to maintain an aura of morality, decency,

In the story “A&P”, Updike tells a more modernized version of “Araby” depicting a scene where a young boy, in an attempt to impress a female customer, stands up for her against authority, which fails. Sammy, the cashier of the store is in awe of the three girls who enter in nothing but bathing suits. He watches them from afar and is especially taken with the “queen” of the group, stating her to be “more than pretty” (Updike 33). The store manager then calls out the girls for their inappropriate attire, and like in Araby, Sammy seizes the opportunity to show the girls his chivalrous ways. He manages to get “I quit” (Updike 35) in before the girls are out the door, in the hopes that they will stop to listen to him. They, however, keep going and Sammy is left to finish what he started. He is now faced with following through with his actions, and losing his job. It is from this experience that Sammy learns that as the world modernizes, his heroic actions become less useful. The girls did not care whether Sammy quit or not; they could handle themselves. Although they were extremely embarrassed by what the manager had said to them, they quickly carried on with their business and left the situation, without needing to be saved. Therefore, it is Sammy’s failed heroic gesture that shows him

The short story "A&P" by John Updike is about a group of three girls who enter an A&P grocery store in nothing but bathing suits. The male workers at the A&P grocery store are drawn to the looks of the three girls, Queenie in specific. One theme I saw present in the story was the power of aspiration. This theme is clearly seen through the power the three girls hold over the male workers at the A&P grocery store, especially Sammy. The three girls are aware of the sexual attraction the male workers are broadcasting through their constant stares; however, the girls are not acknowledging the male workers, which allows for the girls to hold the power of aspiration. The author conveys this theme through Lengel and Sammy's failed attempts to take this power of aspiration away from the girls.

In “A & P” we can see through John Updike’s description each feeling Sammy, a 19 year old, has which is working in a market store. He lives in a small town, having a quiet life and a future that was not offering many opportunities, but along with the arrival in store of the young barefoot girls which were wearing only bathing swims, he starts having all the mix feelings. The sexuality that promoted by the young girls outfit was not welcome in the setting of A&P, and against the policy store, even though the girls were focused only of what they come to buy, without any purpose of attracting other people’s attention. The girls’

The settings in the two stories are similar in the way that they both take place in a small town with a sense of poverty. The adults are portrayed as authoritative and the narrators feel trapped.

In the short story A&P by John Updike, the story is told in a first person narrative of a teenage boy working as a cashier in an A&P grocery store on a hot summer day. The story begins with the teenage boy named Sammy becoming preoccupied by a group of three teenage girls that walk into the grocery store wearing bathing suits. Sammy admires the girl's beauty as most nineteen year old adolescent boys would, in a slightly lewd and immature nature. His grammar is flawed and he is clearly not of an upper-class family, his

In the story A&P by John Updike a young cashier by the name of Sammy learns about the power of desire and the mystery of others minds when working at an A&P supermarket in a small town north of Boston in the 1960’s, where there was a lot of social norms and many people didn’t step out of them. The young nineteen-year-old Sammy wasn’t expecting his Thursday shift at A&P to go the way it did when income three young girls but, these are not your socially normal teenagers who come walking in the door. The moment these girls walk into the A&P they attract every male eye in the store towards them, which clearly shows the kind of power their sexuality grants them over their opposite sex. In turn, Sammy imagination and interpretation of these

The one similarities that I got was there both boys. They both have conflicts with their families. They both get misunderstood by

John Updike's “A & P” and James Joyce's “Araby” are very similar. The theme of the two stories is about a young man who is interested in figuring out the difference between reality and the fantasies of romance that play in his head and of the mistaken thoughts each has about their world, the girls, and themselves. One of the main similarities between the two stories is the fact that the main character has built up unrealistic expectations of women. Both characters have focused upon one girl in which they place all their affection. Both Sammy and the boy suffer rejection in the end. Both stories also dive into the unstable mind of a young man who is faced with one of life's most difficult lessons. The lesson learned is that things are not

In both situations, the different groups of boys were thrown into harsh conditions and there are many similarities and differences between their stories, however, the Lost Boys

In the story of, "Araby" James Joyce concentrated on three main themes that will explain the purpose of the narrative. The story unfolded on North Richmond Street, which is a street composed of two rows of houses, in a desolated neighborhood. Despite the dreary surroundings of "dark muddy lanes" and "ash pits" the boy tried to find evidence of love and beauty in his surroundings. Throughout the story, the boy went through a variety of changes that will pose as different themes of the story including alienation, transformation, and the meaning of religion (Borey).

A person’s life is often journey of study and learning from errors and mistakes made in the past. In both James Joyce’s Araby and John Updike’s A&P, the main characters, subjected to the events of their respective stories, are forced to reflect upon their actions which failed to accomplish their original goal in impressing another character. Evidently, there is a similar thematic element that emerges from incidents in both short stories, which show maturity as an arduous process of learning from failures and a loss of innocence. By analyzing the consequences of the interaction of each main character, the Narrator in Araby and Sammy in A&P; and their persons of infatuation, Mangan’s sister and Queenie, respectively; both protagonists realize and mature through their respective failures.

In approximately every story, the protagonist faces difficult personal situations where he/she takes risks and puts forth a great deal of effort to satisfy and impress another character. In the stories "A&P" by John Updike and "Araby" by James Joyce, the main characters both have goals they perceive they must accomplish in order to impress characters of the opposite sex. The iconic image of the protagonist achieving their goal and getting the girl or the guy seems very crucial to every story , however in this case they obtain something else. The true meaning of the quest these characters undertake is that they experience an epiphany. The realization that life is and always will be unfavorable and difficult.