john updike ap and james joyces araby
JOHN UPDIKE'S A & P AND JAMES JOYCE'S ARABY John Updike's A & P and James Joyce's Arabyshare many of the same literary traits. Theprimary focus of the two stories revolves around ayoung man who is compelled to decipher thedifferent between cruel reality and the fantasiesof romance that play in his head. That the mandoes, indeed, discover the difference is what setshim off into emotional collapse. One of the mainsimilarities between the two stories is the factthat the main character, who is also theprotagonist, has built up incredible,yetunrealistic, expectations of women, having focusedupon one in particular towards which he places allhis unrequited affection. The expectation thesemen hold when finally "face to face with theirobject of worship" (Wells, 1993, p. 127) is whatsends the final and crushing blow of reality: Therejection they suffer is far too great for them to Updike is famous for taking other author'sworks and twisting them so that they reflect a morecontemporary flavor. While the story remains thesame, the climate is singular only to Updike. Thisis the reason why there are similarities as well asdeviations from Joyce's original piece. Plot,
To one, offering somethingtangible is far more worthwhile than anything elsehe could present; to the other, however, extendinghis manliness far better suits his attempts to winthe girl's heart. Notonly are descriptive phrases shared by bothstories, but parallels occur with each ending, aswell (Doloff 113). "Aspects of Milton's 'Paradise Lost' in James Joyce's 'Araby'. "The story's closing moral turnson itself by concluding with a parabolic maneuver,by having the narrative consciousness turn itselfinto an allegorical figure" (Norris 309). "Rousseau and the confessions of 'Araby'. No matter their efforts, both young men failmiserably in their attempts to woo their respectiveladies. Focusing upon themilky softness and "the white curve of herneck"(Joyce 32) demonstrates the overwhelminginterest Joyce's protagonist place in the moresubtle features; as well, Updike's character isequally as enthralled by the sensuality of hislady's "long white prima-donna legs" (A & P 188). The primaryfocal point is the young man's love for acompletely unattainable girl who unknowingly rilesthe man into such a sexual and emotional frenzythat he begins to confuse "sexual impulses forthose of honor and chivalry" (Wells, 1993, p. It is this very situation of self-deception uponwhich both stories concentrate that brings theyoung man to his emotional knees as he is forced to"compensate for the emptiness and longing in theyoung boy's life" (Norris 309). What does not escape either story, however, isthe manner in which the young men are transformedinto "distracted, agitated, disoriented" (Wells,1993, p. "Blind streets and seeing houses: Araby's dim glass revisited.
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Acceptance Essays
