Araby and a&P

Emerging Adulthood

The protagonists of “Araby” by James Joyce and “A&P” by John Updike travel down some of the same paths of transitioning into adulthood. The two characters experience situations where women initiate their transitions and strong emotions influence their decisions. However, the two characters differ in how much the situation impacts their lives and in the way the situation impacts them as individuals as well. The concept of emerging adulthood, as outlined in “The Post-Adolescent, Pre-Adult, Not-Quite-Decided Life Stage” by Robin Marantz Henig, is a topic addressed in both works occurring at different stages of the protagonist’s lives.

Love drives people to act in ways they never thought they would. An example of this is in “A&P” where actual love did not exist, but strong emotions toward the “queen” did. At the conclusion of the story, Sammy, the protagonist, quits his comfortable, routine job after being witness to the “queen” being disrespected and embarrassed by his manager. This act was driven by the strong emotions he was feeling toward the girl at the time. These emotions were obvious by the detail Sammy included in his description of her every move, and also from his day dream where he pictured her family relaxing in their living room (Updike 1345). He had an investment in the “queen” and was driven by that fact to quit and stand up for her. Sammy was upset that his manager had chosen to chastise the girls for being different and going against policy, for being rebels. It was true, the girls were “walking against the usual traffic” of the aisle, but that did not bother Sammy; to the contrary, he found it humorous (Updike 1344). All of these events helped Sammy realize that the monotonous supermarket lifestyle was not what he wanted. Sammy needed to quit to break free, and even though his action would come with consequences, he was blinded by his strong emotions for the girl and the overall situation.

In “Araby”, love was...