On the contrary, these short stories depict few differences in the event of their unfolding. The settings are of not only different eras, but different locations as well. John Updike’s “A&P” and James Joyce’s “Araby” are stories that contain both many parallels and variances. The ideology of youthful love amongst the protagonists is a main similarity for “A&P” and “Araby”. In these stories, the boys are flummoxed by the beauty of two girls and struggle to find a way to communicate with these striking young ladies.
The boy is no longer young and naive; he has grown up and become disillusioned with life. Question 2 The description of the sound in the streets when the young man is walking by thinking of the girl he loves. He hears the "curses of laborers," the "shrill litanies of shop boys," and "nasal chartings of street singers." All of these images, besides just making the street seem busy, also make it seem like an unpleasant and intruding scene, almost like you would want to cover your ears and hurry through as fast as possible. This compliments perfectly the boy's imagination that he is "carrying his chalice safely through a throng of foes."
At the end of “A & P” Sammy show’s his frustration on how the girl’s in the store had been treated by his manager Lengel that he quits in order to stand up for what he believed in. When Lengel comes to Sammy’s register to say to the girls, “Girls, this isn’t the beach” (19) and then later on say the same thing and belittle the girls that way. While Sammy was bagging up the girls groceries he’s thinking about what he is going to do; “pass a half and a penny into her narrow pink palm, and nestle the herrings in a bag and twist its neck and hand it over, all the time thinking” (19). After Sammy has ended the transaction his decision on what he is going to do has been made. As the girls leave the store in a hurry Sammy says to Lengel “I quit”.
While he feels that speaking out in defense of the girls with the underlying hope that they will hear him and be waiting outside for him after he quits, it is both immature, naïve, and will have a negative impact on his future. Sammy’s immaturity and desire to gain the attention of the girls clouds his judgment, in a sense blinding him of seeing the blatant trouble that awaits him if he quits his job and confronts his boss. His innocence is another factor that effects his judgment in the store. His growing desire for the girls grows more as he fawns over their every move, This desire, coupled with his lack of experience with women clouds his judgment and makes them into something he really has no proof that they are. A less innocent/ naive individual would have seen the situation in a different light and come to a more intelligent decision rather than making a rash choice that only someone as inexperienced as Sammy would do.
But on his trip and during his time at the bazaar, he confronts the reality of his “love.” He can’t find anything to get her and his frustration grows and through the frustration, he sees the pointlessness of his actions. It says, “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.” He finally sees that he’s been consumed and obsessed with this girl, but it was never love. His dreams are
Life Struggles through Emerging Adulthood in Literature Both John Updike’s “A&;P” and James Joyce’s “Araby” bring to light the difficulties young people discover during their journey into adulthood: finding one’s ‘self’ or ‘purpose’ in this ever-changing world. However, while both stories converge around the same theme, “A&P” provides a more worldly, personal, and light- hearted picture of psychologist Jeffrey Arnett’s idea of “emerging adulthood” then “Araby’s” gloomy, dark and distant story line. Both protagonists are young men, although different ages, both are struggling to find themselves while also looking for attention from young women. When dissecting the two protagonist’s struggles in these two works, age is seemingly irrelevant; however, they are brought together under the commonality of being in the same life-stage of “emerging adulthood”. First, the term “emerging adulthood” as described by Arnett in Henig’s article, refers to: …identity exploration, instability, self-focus, feeling in-between and a rather poetic characteristic he calls “a sense of possibilities”.
Steinbeck wanted to show that, after the stock market crash of 1929, the American Dream was becoming impossible to achieve or even believe in. The relevance of loneliness to “Of Mice and Men’ is shown through the characters. As Curley’s wife says, “Ever’body needs someone to talk to.” Most of the characters suffer from loneliness at some point. Curley’s wife, Candy and Crooks are lonely as a result of being different to the social norm of the ranch. The need to be accepted drives the characters to extreme behaviour for example when Curley’s wife tells Crooks that she “could get [him] lynched so easy it ain’t even funny.” The loneliness she feels means she cannot interact properly or form relationships with the men on the ranch because she constantly has to defend herself.
This was because of the eccentric and peculiar attitudes and outlook on life of the protagonist that made the novel such an attraction. The way Holden could judge someone based on looks may sound really prejudice, but most of his judgments panned out to be accurate. Many readers (even me) began to have the same perception of society after closing the book. Somehow Salinger has transformed the readers’ minds to become more judgmental and see more ‘phonies’ in society. This consequently made youth feel alienated and began sharing the same views of Holden Caulfield of this world full of ‘phonies’.
"Cathedral" by Raymond Carver Many things are at play in “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver. Most notably, would be the narrator’s sarcastic narration of the story and how the tone changes as the story progresses. “Metanoia” is latin for change of mind. Much like the cathedral, the blind man brought people together and helped them see another side of themselves. Alcohol and cannabis were used by the author as devices to break down the barriers between Robert and the husband.
This may be why he has such a difficult time getting along with women. When Hamlet’s father passed away, Gertrude (Hamlet’s Mother) didn’t even dwell on the fact that her husband had just passed away. She went along and hooked up with her dead husband’s brother. Hamlet becomes furious about this happening and loses all respect for