Coming-Of-Age In Araby And John Updike's A & P

Coming-of-age describes the process of growing up, and at least a part of it happens when one realizes the negative consequences of their actions. In James Joyce’s Araby and John Updike’s A&P, the narrators are brought to reflect on their actions and their responses to these actions indicate how they have grown up by the story’s conclusion. In both short stories, there is a similar theme around coming-of-age: growing up is not always a positive experience because people inevitably suffer a loss of innocence as they grow up. Growing up requires learning, often times from mistakes. In A&P, Sammy, a young adult, makes the decision to be a hero to three girls who walk into the A&P during his shift, Sammy, a young adult, decides to be a hero …show more content…
When Sammy attempted his grand act, he did not understand the consequences of his action. Sammy’s loss of innocence is shown when he soon learns that the girls were not even there to witness his action. The negative consequence from Sammy’s action shows his coming-of-age.
Furthermore, in Araby, the narrator is an older person who reflects on his younger childish past self. When the narrator was younger, he resolves to get his crush a gift from Araby, a market which she cannot go to. When the narrator arrives at Araby, he sees two men and one woman flirting with each other and realizes his love for his crush can never be realized. The narrator’s loss of innocence is when he choses not to buy anything. This is evident when the narrator states, “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger” (Joyce pg. 3).
This shows the narrator’s disappointing experience of growing up is through the knowledge he gained and the innocence lost while doing so. The narrator’s loss of innocence comes from the realization that an object will not change his relationship with his crush. The negative expriance of growing up for the narrator shows his