Tuesday, 1 January 2013

Compare and contrast John Updike's story "A&P" and James Joyce's story "Araby."

While the
protagonists in "A&P" and "" are described as typical teenage males,
they harbor widely disparate views about the female body. 

In
"A&P," the teenage male narrator (Sammy) is focused on the superficial or the
corporeal aspects of femininity. His interest in the girls is thoroughly carnal in nature, and
he salivates over the female form. The first girl who catches his attention is dressed in a
green, two-piece bikini:

She was a chunky kid, with a good
tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it, where
the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the backs of her legs.


Our teenage narrator focuses on the girl's sexy and partially exposed behind. Of the
three girls, Sammy is most enchanted by the one he dubs "the queen" or
"Queenie." This particular girl is dressed in a "dirty pink" or beige
bathing suit with the straps down. It does not take long for the narrator to notice her
"white prima donna legs," "white shoulders," and...

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