What Is The Difference Between Araby And A & P

Phil McGraw once said “There's a big difference between infatuation and falling in love.” In both stories ‘Araby’ by James Joyce and, ‘A&P’ by John Updike, two very diverse young men feel they are in love with a girl whom they know very little about, and who do not notice them in a romantic way, then later in the stories they grasp insight that they do not love these girls. On thus journey of coming to realization that it is not love but infatuation, both young men face a series of struggles both intrapersonal and interpersonal. While trying to overcome these struggles, they both have an epiphany which has impact on both their lives. Both the young boy from ‘Araby’ and Sammy from ‘A&P’ think they have feelings for a girl whom …show more content…
Examples to support this are: “I look around for my girls but they’re gone, of course” and “I could see Lengel in my place in the slot, checking the sheep through.” Both quotes show
Sammy’s interpersonal conflict because it shows his disappointment of Queenie being gone and his regret of quitting his job at the store. Similar to Sammy, the boy from ‘Araby’ also faces interpersonal conflict. The young boy goes to this bazaar for his love only to be crushed by the thoughts that he is not really in love with her. He goes to get her a souvenir from this festival but then before he even gets to get anything for her he comes to a realization that he could not possibly love, Mangan yet he only fantasizes about her day in and day out. The boy becomes infuriated with himself, he blames himself for this misunderstanding, he feels as if he cannot get back the time he wasted, preoccupied by thoughts of her, it seems somehow thoughts of her wandered back into his mind. Examples that show how the boy realizes this is when stated: “And I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity” and “And my eyes burned with anguish and anger.” Both of these quotes express how the boy had anger …show more content…
In ‘A&P’, Sammy has a physical motif after he quits his job and physically leaves the store to go see if Queenie was there, his first idea was to go after, Queenie but to only realize she has already left. Sammy’s psychological journey was being faced to do something else in his life, his life has suddenly changed now that he has quit his job, not only did he lose his job but he lost the girl he thought he loved, too. This forces Sammy to be open to better opportunities in his life and it also causes him to finally realize that he and Queenie are not meant to be together, she left and his life got harder and he has to make decisions based on his future.
Queenie leaving made him realize he was going to have to do something else. This is proven when stated “My stomach kind of fell” and “I felt how hard the world was going to be for me hereafter.” Both of these quotes show how Sammy is not in denial but he actually realizes his life will change and he realizes it will be harder for him. He is also not in denial over, Queenie but it shows