The narrators of both "Araby" and "A&P" are young boys who endure a disenchanting moment, in which their ideals become distorted. There are similarities between the boys' experiences, and there are differences. There are universal features of growing up that these two boys experience, just as all of us do. The fear involved may be overcome, but it will never go away. Growing up is a process that we cannot avoid, it is one that we are all familiar with.
             Both boys in "Araby" and "A&P" undergo an experience that changes their point of view of the world around them. In both their cases, the entity that produces the boy's epiphany is a woman. This is understood, as both boys are young teenagers who are on the brink of discovering intense emotional feelings for a woman for the first time. They are at a point in their lives where they are noticing and fantasizing about women. In fact, in "Araby" the boy's entire involvement with the girl is manifested from and revolved around solely his imagination and his fantasizing. Similarly, Sammy in "A&P" never speaks one word to his love interest, who he refers to as Queenie. Nonetheless, both boys are experiencing strong sexual desires at this point in their lives.
             Both boys encounter a personal discovery in the conclusion of the story. The reader is left with the impression that the boys' lives have just changed and, that from here on, they will live life with a different set of eyes, ears, and stomachs. In the end of "Araby," the boy's "eyes burned with anguish and anger," as he has come to some understanding and has gained insight. In the end of "A&P" Sammy says, "my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter." Both boys feel a sense of shifting values and an altering of their presence in the world. Who they listen...