A And P With Araby Essay, Research Paper

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 different 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. Updike is famous for taking other author’s works and twisting

them so that they reflect a more contemporary flavor. While the story remains

the same, the climate is singular only to Updike. This is the reason why there

are similarities as well as deviations from Joyce’s original piece. Plot, theme

and detail are three of the most resembling aspects of the two stories over all

other literary components; characteristic of both writers’ works, each rendition

offers its own unique perspective upon the young man’s romantic infatuation. Not

only are descriptive phrases shared by both stories, but parallels occur with

each ending, as well (Doloff 113). What is even more telling of Updike’s

imitation of Joyce’s Araby is the fact that the A & P title is hauntingly

close in pronunciation to the original story’s title. The theme of A & P and

Araby are so close to each other that the subtle differences might be somewhat

imperceptible to the untrained eye. Both stories delve into the unstable psyche

of a young man who is faced with one of life’s most difficult lessons: that

things are not always as they appear to be. Telling the tale as a way of looking

back on his life, the protagonist allows the reader to follow his life’s lessons

as they are learned, imparting upon the audience all the emotional pain and

suffering endured for each one. The primary focal point is the young man’s love

for a completely unattainable girl who unknowingly riles the man into such a

sexual and emotional frenzy that he begins to confuse "sexual impulses for

those of honor and chivalry" (Wells, 1993, p. 127). It is this very

situation of self-deception upon which both stories concentrate that brings the

young man to his emotional knees as he is forced to "compensate for the

emptiness and longing in the young boy’s life" (Norris 309). As much as

Updike’s rendition is different from Joyce’s original work, the two pieces are

as closely related as any literary writings can be. Specifically addressing

details, it can be argued that Updike missed no opportunity to fashion A & P

as much after Araby as possible. For example, one aspect of womanhood that

fascinates and intrigues both young men is the whiteness of the girls’ skin.

This explicit detail is not to be taken lightly in either piece, for the

implication is integral to the other important story elements, particularly as

they deal with female obsession. Focusing upon the milky softness and "the

white curve of her neck"(Joyce 32) demonstrates the overwhelming interest

Joyce’s protagonist place in the more subtle features; as well, Updike’s

character is equally as enthralled by the sensuality of his lady’s "long

white prima-donna legs" (A & P 188). One considerable difference

between Updike’s A & P and Joyce’s Araby is the gap between the young men’s

ages, with Updike’s embarking upon his twenties while Joyce’s is of a

significantly more tender age. This divergence presents itself as one of the

most instrumentally unique aspects separating the two stories, as it establishes

a considerable variance between the age groups. The reader is more readily able

to accept the fact that the younger man has not yet gained the ability to

ascertain the complex differences between love’s reality; on the other hand, it

is not as easy to apply this same understanding to Updike’s older character, who

should by all rights be significantly more familiar with the ways of the world

by that age. "The lesson that romance and morality are antithetical,

whether learned from haunting celibates or breathed in with the chastising

Dublin air, has not been lost on the narrator" (Coulthard 97). What does

not escape either story, however, is the manner in which the young men are

transformed into "distracted, agitated, disoriented" (Wells, 1993, p.

127) versions of their former selves once they have become focused upon their

respective objects of affection. Both have lost sight of what is important

within their lives, "with the serious work of life" (Joyce 32), to see

what havoc their passion is wreaking. It is not important that everyone around

them notices the way they have withdrawn from reality; rather, they have both

come under a spell of infatuation that pays no mind to anything but their

fixations (Wells, 1993). Despite their best efforts, neither young man

ultimately wins the heart — or the attention — of his respective love

interest, which Updike’s character asserts to be "the sad part of the

story" (192). Their gallant rescue attempts aside, the two men are faced

with the grim and shattering reality that the girls have no desire for their

company. This particular attention to plot is critical within the two stories,

because it demonstrates how despair can be both disheartening and uplifting at

the same time. Updike’s character has found himself holding a dollar bill that

he obtained from his lady love, to which he inwardly acknowledges "it just

having come from between the two smoothest scoops of vanilla I had ever

known" (193-94). The gifts each young man offered his love interest are not

well received; in fact, it is at this very moment in each story that the reader

feels the depths of each character’s despair. While different in origination,

the intent was the same, since both young men come from such diverse

backgrounds; where Joyce’s Irish boy offers a material gesture, Updike’s

American character offers himself as a shield against any further antagonizing

his lady has endured. This clearly demonstrates the variance in both

materialistic values and the concepts of what is important to each young man. To

one, offering something tangible is far more worthwhile than anything else he

could present; to the other, however, extending his manliness far better suits

his attempts to win the girl’s heart. "The story’s closing moral turns on

itself by concluding with a parabolic maneuver, by having the narrative

consciousness turn itself into an allegorical figure" (Norris 309). No

matter their efforts, both young men fail miserably in their attempts to woo

their respective ladies. The similarities between the two stories with regard to

the manner in which each is conveyed to the reader speak of life’s lessons and

the sometimes painful road one is required to take in order to gain such

experience. With images of chivalry and romance notwithstanding, both Updike’s A

& P and Joyce’s Araby set forth to impart the many trials and tribulations

associated with love. "Expressions of emotions and thoughts also show

parallels, including the ending self-revelation and climax" (Doloff 255).

Coulthard, A.R. "Joyce’s ‘Araby’.," The Explicator, vol. 52, (1994)

: Winter, pp.97(3). Doloff, Steven. "Aspects of Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ in

James Joyce’s ‘Araby’.," James Joyce Quarterly, vol. 33, (1995) : Fall, pp.

113(3). Doloff, Steven. "Rousseau and the confessions of ‘Araby’.,"

James Joyce Quarterly, vol.33, (1996) : Winter, pp. 255(4). Joyce, James.

Dubliners. (New York : Penguin, 1967). Norris, Margot. "Blind streets and

seeing houses: Araby’s dim glass revisited.," Studies in Short Fiction,

vol. 32, (1995) : Summer, pp. 309(10). Updike, John. "A & P."

Pigeon Feathers and Other Stories. (New York : Knopf, 1962). Wells, Walter.

"John Updike’s ‘A & P’: a return visit to Araby.," Studies in

Short Fiction, vol. 30, (1993) : Spring, pp. 127(7).