Answered You can hire a professional tutor to get the answer.

QUESTION

Need an argumentative essay on John Updike's A&P and James Joyce's Araby. Needs to be 4 pages. Please no plagiarism.Download file to see previous pages... Point of view makes a large contribution to t

Need an argumentative essay on John Updike's A&P and James Joyce's Araby. Needs to be 4 pages. Please no plagiarism.

Download file to see previous pages...

Point of view makes a large contribution to the overall meaning in John Updike’s “A&amp.P” and James Joyce’s “Araby.” Both stories deal with a moment in childhood that changes the way the narrator sees the world. In the case of “A&amp.P,” a 19 year old male quits his job to defend the honor of a girl he does not even know. Perhaps this quick decision would not have been made by another character and the overall meaning of the story would be altered. In “Araby,” a young boy finally sees the uselessness of trying to win a girl’s heart by bringing her a present from a fair. “Araby” deals solely with the hopes and desires of one young man and could not be told from another view without losing its meaning. Both stories deal with the idea of love and the instant that the narrator feels foolish for his actions. The significance of these turning points would be altered if told from different perspectives and therefore makes point of view an import element to the stories.

John Updike explores the impact of embarrassment in the world of teenagers in his story “A&amp.P.” The main character is a teenage boy named Sammy, who while working the cash register sees a group of girls wearing only bikinis enter the store. The manager publicly scolded the girls, which lead to Sammy quitting his job on the spot. Although Sammy felt his reaction justified the girls' embarrassment, he also immediately becomes aware of the impact his action will have on his future. Updike writes, "my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be on be hereafter." The course of Sammy's life changes in an instant because of his reaction to the scene in the grocery store. The purpose of the story was to relate the impact of one decision in an individual's life.

The main character in James Joyce's "Araby" is younger than the narrator in "A&amp.P" and therefore deals with his attraction to a girl in a more childish manner. Speaking to this girl becomes a game for the narrator and when it actually happens, he is beside himself. However, all of his hopes are dashed when he arrives to the fair too late and in that instant, he sees the futility of his efforts. Joyce writes, "Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity, and my eyes burned with anguish and anger." This moment is a turning point in the young man's life as he realizes that he can't win her attention by purchasing something. The purpose of this story was the capture the anguish of this young man at a specific point.

The two stories are told at different stages in life and are tailored to a specific moment in the narrator's life. Since the boy in "A&amp.P" is older, he is more aware of social concerns and public embarrassment. As a 19-year-old, he probably just finished high school, a time in which social situations and embarrassment go hand in hand. Updike writes "but remembering how he made that pretty girl blush makes me so scrunchy inside" This passage demonstrates his awareness of social scenes and his ability to physically feel the embarrassment of the girls. By abruptly quitting his job, he feels as though he is taking a stance against the awkward nature of adolescence and defending the well being of the girls.

The boy in "Araby" is not as concerned with social issues and often spends his alone time thinking about his girl. He has not reached an age yet where he can identify with similar emotions as his peers. The conversation between the narrator and the girl was casual, but to him, it became his personal mission to find something at the bazaar. Joyce writes, "I wished to annihilate the tedious intervening days.

Show more
LEARN MORE EFFECTIVELY AND GET BETTER GRADES!
Ask a Question