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
they barely speak to or only speak to occasionally. Sammy does not speak of Queenie in an adoring way, instead he is more focused on her looks, her size and her clothes, he refers to her as the Queen while he refers to the other two girls with her as ‘chubby’ or ‘the fat one’. He is also fixated by the fact that she does not follow the ordinary routine that everyone else in the store follows. Examples that support this are “She turned so slow it made my stomach rub” and “O Daddy! I feel so faint.” These quotes show that
Sammy is attracted to her, but not for her personality or temperament, he is attracted to her because she is his idea of perfection. Unalike Sammy, the young man from ‘Araby’ is passionate about the
Mangan sister, he refers to her true beauty and he explains the passion and romance he feels for her when he sees her. He expresses his feelings for Mangan in a more romantic way than Sammy does for Queenie. Examples that support this are “And yet her name was like a summons to all of my foolish blood”, “And how could I tell her of my confused adoration” and “My body was like the harp and her ways and gestures were like the fingers running down the wires.” These quotes show how this boy is mature enough to be able to focus on a girls true beauty and how he is mature enough to understand that personality is what matters, not looks. This brings out irony in the story since he is not old enough nor experienced enough to be deeply in love with her, he is immature to think he could be in love with this girl. The young men from each story face conflict with themselves and those around them, both of their conflict is caused by this infatuation stated above. In ‘A&P’, Sammy has both intrapersonal and interpersonal conflict due to his infatuation with Queenie. His intrapersonal conflict occurs between him and his boss, Lengel. This is caused because Sammy wants to try and impress Queenie by sticking up for her when Lengel provokes the girls about their bathing suit. Sammy gets angry and quits his job thinking that the girl will notice him and maybe give him a chance. This is proven when stated “girls this isn’t a beach” “But it seems to me that once you begin a gesture it’s fatal to not go through with it” and “I quit.” All three quotes show how Lengel judges the girls on the clothes they are wearing in his store and it shows how Sammy reacts to getting angry and quitting his job at the A&P. Sammy also faces inter- personal conflict when he finally had the courage of quitting his job. Once he goes outside to see if
Queenie was waiting for him, to maybe give him a chance, he is quickly disappointed to see she is already gone. Once he realized he made a mistake when quitting, Sammy starts to regret his decision for an immature reason.
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
towards himself for not realizing sooner that this is not a way of love, he does not love her but he is very attracted to, Mangan. He could be attracted to her because maybe she has something that he lacks, maturity. In the boy’s processes of overcoming the struggles brought on by the girls, both of them have a journey motif both physical and psychological.
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
that he is upset that she is gone, he states that his stomach hurt when he went outside, only to see that she is no longer there. Similar in ‘Araby”, the boy physically leaves the bazaar after he comes to the conclusion that he does not love the Mangan sister. This realization makes his departure harder because he knows that he will never be able to be with her. His physical journey of leaving this bazaar helps him gain insight to his future, knowing that the Mangan sister would not be in it. It also makes him gain maturity to finally realizes that he does not love the girl and that they will never be together romantically, it makes him grow up in a sense that he finally sees that his idea of love was wrong.
Quotes that support this are: “Though I knew my stay was useless” and “I turned away slowly and
Walked down the middle of the bazaar.” Both quotes show how the boy got the strength and courage to leave the bazaar even though he knew it meant that he would never be with Mangan, either. Love and infatuation are two very diverse topics and can cause many challenges, the important thing is, is to have the maturity to distinguish between the two. Both can cause you to have problems but they can both help you gain the ability to overcome these struggles, both help gain maturity.