The stories “A&P” by John Updike and “Araby” by James Joyce both give a glimpse into the mind of male youths at a period of sexual awakening. The stories present the perspectives of these boys as they watch young women from a distance and admire the beauty they seem to find in their persons. The youths are enchanted by these female figures, and are in the end driven to heroism and disillusioned by love. The authors express these sentiments from a first-person point of view that gives a sense of immediacy, allowing the feelings to unfold in real time. However, the two boys express their enchantment with (and longing for) these girls in manners that demonstrate a focus on different aspects of the girls’ humanity. While the protagonist-narrator of “Araby” expresses his fascination with a pure and chaste spiritual innocence, the main character of “A&P” demonstrates a lewder and more carnal approach to his sexual awakening.
The narrators of “Araby” and “A&P” identify themselves as young persons who are experiencing the alluring aspect of the opposite sex and are in the end disillusioned with the world and matters of romance. The “A&P” narrator (Sammy) expresses his enchantment with the girls in the way his mind is fixed on them as soon as they enter the supermarket at which he works. Updike achieves the effect of showing this youth’s mind as riveted on these girls, as the story begins with their entrance to the store and contains details about almost nothing else. It begins in medias res: “In walks these three girls with nothing but bathing suits” (Updike, 113). The sensual aspect of the picture is highlighted in the narrator’s attention to the girls’ attire, and this pinpoints his interest in them as being of a sexual nature. The extent of his obsession with them soon prompts him to blunder into an adolescent action. In a bid to be heroic, he quits his job because of his manager’s reprimand of the girls. They, however, do not even notice. His actions after this mirror those of a boy who is overwhelmed by the effect of sexual attraction and is rewarded with nothing for his troubles.
The protagonist-narrator of “Araby” has also become enthralled with the aspect of a woman. He, like Sammy of “A&P,” surreptitiously watches a girl and is unable to get her out of his mind. He makes this admission when he declares, “Her image accompanied me even in places the most hostile to romance” (Joyce, 255). His obsession with her is very potent and he too is able to place her as the focal point of his thoughts, despite distractions around him. In fact, he emphasizes this ability in his comparison of her image to a chalice which he was able to keep safe despite the throng of distractions that came to thrust her from him (256). However, he too soon faces a disillusioning circumstance, as his pseudo-date with her at the bazaar is thwarted by the tardiness of his uncle. He is shown to be “a creature driven and derided by vanity” (259). Upon reaching the event, he too finds out that fate plays tricks on lovers, and he is unable to meet the girl for whose sake he had gone to the event.
Despite their similar premises, the two stories differ in the nature of their expression of these two boys’ enchantment of with the women they watch. While both protagonist-narrators experience these subtle awakenings of their psyches and bodies as a result of the overall beauty of the girls, Sammy of “A&P” experiences this feeling in response to a much more carnally expressed beauty. He notices the girl specifically because of her state of undress, and his mind is filled with the images of her body devoid of clothing. He admits that what “got” him about the main girl (the queen) was the fact that the “straps were down” on her bathing suit (Updike, 114). His enchantment with her body is proven more sensual and carnal in his description: “there was nothing between the top of the suit and the top of her head except just her, this clean bare plane of the top of her chest down from the shoulder bones like a dented sheet of metal tilted in the light. I mean, it was more than pretty” (114). This is especially true in contrast with his idea that the extent of her mental faculties were akin to the buzz of a bee (114). This demonstrates how much more he was concerned with her body than her entire personhood.
This emphasis on carnality is in direct contrast with the almost spiritual intensity of the passion that that Araby’s narrator has for the object of his affections. It is her clothing, as opposed to her body, which is described by this narrator. He remembers her as one who is attired in virginal skirts and upon whom the light shines in almost ethereal fashion. She is in fact compared to an angel, as he describes her effect on him. He says, “But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires” (Joyce, 256). This girl is described in such a way that depicts her as chaste and virginal—in direct contrast to Sammy’s girl who flaunted her body and etched their parts in his mind. The narrator of “Araby,” however, considers his girl a holy object, a “chalice” that he must bear through distracting throngs (256).
The stories “A&P” and “Araby,” by John Updike and James Joyce respectively, both tell the tale of two young boys who experience a spiritual and sexual awakening at the hands of a girl. The two boys are thrust into a confusion of feeling toward the opposite sex that overwhelms them and causes them to make bold decisions. They are both prompted by love and in the end are disappointed by the reward they receive for their troubles. It is disillusionment with the prospect of romance confronts each at the end. However, the boys differ in the focal points of their attention to the women they observe. While Sammy from “A&P” is obsessed with sensual body parts and the bareness of the flesh he is permitted to view, Araby’s narrator is concerned with the essence of the woman his mind has distilled. This essence is more related to her spirit than her body, and this difference elevates the intentions of this particular narrator over his “A&P” counterpart.
Works Cited
Joyce, James. “Araby.” Literature: Reading, Writing, Reacting. Laurie G. Kirzner & Stephen R. Mandell (Eds.). New York: Harcourt College Publishers, 2001. 254-259.
Updike, John. “A&P.” Literature: Reading, Writing, Reacting. Laurie G. Kirzner & Stephen R. Mandell (Eds.). New York: Harcourt College Publishers, 2001. 113-118.
Literature And James Joyce
James Joyce revolutionized the literature of his times with his elements of imagery, stream of consciousness narration, motif and a unique language pattern, as evident in his short story in Dubliners, “Araby” which etches the quest of the boy-narrator setting forth on a journey to the Oriental ‘bazaar’ – Araby to bring back a token of his mute passion for his neighborhood sweetheart.
Joyce uses the quest motif in this story to portray the voyage from innocence to experience – literally the realization of the boy-protagonist the harsh truth of life at the epiphanic climax at the stall in Araby. Biblically the quest may be perceived as the legend of the Holy Grail, as the boy shields his ardor of love from the ugly crowd of the decadent Dublin environment. There are subtle indications of this eternal quest – the central apple-tree in the garden denoting the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden which signifies the Fall of man. The description of Mangan’s sister (unnamed to bestow her universal identity) embodies the essence of purity in the pervasive gloom of the locality – the light lending her the aura of a halo, her virginal white dress,
While she spoke she turned a silver bracelet round and round her wrist… the white curve of her neck, lit up her hair…, lit up the hand upon the railing. … caught the white border of a petticoat, just visible as she stood at ease.[1]
The girl symbolizes the ideal destination of the protagonist for whom he can cross the ‘flaring streets” in search of the enchanted gift.[2]
The narrator overcomes all hurdles and difficulties and finally arrives at the half-darkened Bazaar, only to witness his idealism shatter at the frivolous banter of the counter girl, the jarring noise of coins in his pocket, to face the mundane actuality of existence. It is, as the critic Ezra pound famously described, “Much better than a ‘story,’ it is a vivid waiting.”[3] It is the eternal quest for the truth couched in the tale of the idealistic adolescent.
Works Cited
- Joyce, James. “Araby”. Classic Short Stories. Site created by B&L Associates, Bangor, Maine, U.S.A. 1995-2007 <http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/araby.html>
- Pound, Ezra. Literary Essays of Ezra Pound, ed. T.S. Eliot (London, 1954).p. 400
- Scholes, Robert and A. Walton Litz, eds., Dubliners: Text, Criticism, and Notes (Penguin, 1976; originally published, 1914), pp.29- 35.
- James Joyce. “Araby”. Classic Short Stories. Site created by B&L Associates, Bangor, Maine, U.S.A. 1995-2007 <http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/araby.html>
- Robert Scholes and A. Walton Litz, eds., Dubliners: Text, Criticism, and Notes (Penguin, 1976; originally published, 1914), pp.29- 35.
- Ezra Pound, Literary Essays of Ezra Pound, ed. T.S. Eliot (London, 1954).p. 400
Arachnophobia: Fear Of Spiders
Arachnophobia is a scientific term for the fear of spiders. In the list of psychoanalytical literature, arachnophobia is one among the words like agoraphobia, acrophobia, and xenophobia. Arachnophobia is a compound word using Greek roots followed by the second word phob with the suffix -ia (Denning, Kessler & Leben, 2007, p. 62).
Yet another simple way to describe the etymology of arachnophobia is: it has its word origin from ‘Arachne’ meaning ‘spider’ and ‘phobos’ meaning ‘fear’. In Greek mythology, Arachna was a beautiful maiden who was later turned into a spider by her trainer Athena. Arachna still had the power of weaving in her even after becoming a spider. ‘Arachno’ is also part of the word arachnodactyly meaning long spider like fingers and toes, in Marfan syndrome, a heritable disorder of connective tissue (Medicinenet, 1).
Many animals create phobia in the life of human beings but the phobia created by spiders are the most common ones. Arachnophobia is considered to be a specific kind of animal phobia. It is estimated that 11% of the population will fulfill criteria for phobic disorder at some point in the lifespan. Specific phobias seldom occur in isolation (Lake, 2006, p. 200). The fear due to arachnophobia is not of the same degree in all humans but it varies from mild to intense. People who have arachnophobia are always on the look out for spiders around them. This does not imply that they are weak minded or lacking ability in real life. For example, the Bowers of the Antarctic known for exploring toughest places in the world have the fear of spiders.
History has interesting facts about spiders. Parts of Abyssinia – during Christ’s birth- were abandoned by people for fear of spiders. From age old days, primitive people stamped their impression on spiders, for example, the Africans feared of spiders but the Amazonian Indians did not. Piaroa Indians enjoyed eating spiders.
Likes and dislikes of spiders by people lived in different parts of the world always varied throughout the history. Some interesting facts in the history reveal that one Maria Schulman was a fond eater of spiders whose sun sign was Scorpio. An astronomer, Lalande had a good taste for spiders and a lady called Jennifer Walker ate raw spiders.
The fear of spiders has historical and cultural reasons behind. Europeans looked upon spiders as a carrier of diseases and plague resulting in death. On the other side, non-Europeans believed spiders were symbols of luck and wisdom. A close study of history suggests that spiders and illness have a close association in the European cultures from the tenth century. They always looked at spiders as a harbinger of anxieties and epidemics. Actually speaking, arachnophobia was a mistaken fear during the plague that later was passed down through European families adding a cultural basis.
Young people are fascinated by the spiders whereas the middle aged and older people suffer from fear of spiders. Nine out of ten who fear for spiders are found to be women. Sometimes, a picture of spider might trigger the fear. Some of the opinions gathered from children worldwide suggest that spiders are in the forefront of their favorite animal list. About 3% of people develop acute fear of spider and they are apprehended on seeing the creature.
Though scientists have their own explanation about arachnophobia, there is no evidence from where this phobia arises. Arachnophobia can lead to anxiety via sweating and heart palpitations. People with mild fear get away without any treatment whereas acute fear needs a better treatment. Arachnophobes may be having poor knowledge of spiders and so teaching them the real facts or imparting knowledge about spiders in them helps in the treatment of driving the fear away. Modern studies deal with arachnophobia differently. For example, virtual reality simulators are used to treat arachnophobics (Insecta Inspecta World, 1). The patients sit in front of computers where unreal spiders are used to bring down the fear gradually. Psychologists have long observed the wear down effect of the same stimuli repeated over and over in persons suffering from fear of spiders (Bell, 2008, p. 94). In spite of all treatments, doctors insist on moral support (Fear of Spider, 1).
Hollywood produced movies based on the theme of arachnophobia. The first such movie Arachnophobia directed by Frank Marshall was released in the year 1990. The movies entertained people with the real facts shown in magnified proportions by creative artists. Later, there was a video game based on the movie released in the market. This turned out to be a real entertainment for children. Series of books in the form of novels, fiction, and facts were released mainly during the early 90s. Some of the prominent ones are Arachnophobia: A Novel, Arachnophobia: Eight Legs, Two Fangs and an Attitude, Experiential training activities for outside and in, etc. Arachnophobia of course creates serious problems in real life if not to the extent shown in Hollywood movies. Spider bite may cause dermatological lesions that require urgent medical care. Spiders use venom to kill their prey but they hardly remains as a threat to human life. However, one has to be precautious with exceptional spider varieties like Brown Recluse and the Black Widows that are aggressive in nature.
References
Bell, A.A. (2008). Butterflies be gone. USA: McGraw-Hill Professional.
Denning, K.M., Kessler, B., Leben, W.R. (2007). English vocabulary. USA: Oxford University Press.
Fear of Spider. Retrieved June 22, 2009, from http://www.earthlife.net/chelicerata/arachnophobia.html
Insecta Inspecta World. Arachnophobia. Retrieved June 22, 2009, from
http://www.insecta-inspecta.com/culent/arach/
Lake, J. (2006). Textbook of integrative mental health care. New York: Thieme.
Medicinenet. Arachnophobia. Retrieved June 22, 2009, from http://www.medterms.com/script/main/hp.asp