James Joyce’s “Araby” and Alice Munro’s “Boys and Girls” are considered to be two of literatures greatest examples of coming of age stories. Both stories give insight on what life is like for a child growing up and transitioning into the life of a young adult. In Joyce’s “Araby” the main character is a young boy whose coming of age transformation was brought on by his infatuation with a close friend’s oldest sister. While in “Boys and Girls” our main character is a young girl trying her hardest not to be what the world expects her to be and in the end becomes what she never thought she would be, a woman. “Araby” and “Boys and Girls” show a young boy and girl’s journey through puberty. Both of these stories successfully capture the struggle
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Whenever she is around he cannot find the words to start a conversation with this girl and he acts shy in her presence. When the main character is playing with his friends he pretends to not notice her or when she comes near he stops playing childish games he once loved with his friends and focuses on her as if he is trying to impress her with his ability to refrain from the boyish antics going on around him. A few weeks earlier he wouldn’t have been the least bit concerned about this girl or his own maturity. Similar to Joyce’s “Araby”, in “Boys and Girls” the main character who is a young girl is also going through “changes” to her mental and physical self. Towards the beginning of the story our main character was what some would call a daddy’s girl. She was always outside helping her father rake leaves, water the foxes and doing whatever else her father needed assisting with. She enjoyed spending time with her father and being like the son he won’t have until Laird, her younger brother, is old enough to help. She grew so accustomed to this life style that it became natural to her, so when people like her mother and grandmother would tell her she is a girl and that …show more content…
In “Araby” the young boy makes quite a few impulsive decisions like following the girl to school one day and then offering to buy her something from the Araby bizarre knowing he didn’t have the money. Joyce writes, “I ran to the hall, seized my books and followed her” (Joyce137) and “If I go, I said, I will bring you something” (Joyce138). Both of these were impulsive decisions he hoped would get the girl to like him or even have her talk to him and in the end he slightly regretted these choices he made and at the end of the story the main character says “...And my eyes burned with anguish and anger” (Joyce141). He was angry at what this crush or girl has turned him into and for what he allowed himself to be turned into. In “Boys and Girls” the main characters main impulsive decision involved letting their horse Flora escape through the gate. “Instead of shutting the gate, I opened it as wide as I could. I didn’t make any decision to do this, it was just what I did” (Munro473). Even before this moment, earlier in the day the main character says the images of Mack the most recent horse put down were running through her head and deep down she couldn’t see the same thing happen to Flora, so she set Flora free. The
Whenever she is around he cannot find the words to start a conversation with this girl and he acts shy in her presence. When the main character is playing with his friends he pretends to not notice her or when she comes near he stops playing childish games he once loved with his friends and focuses on her as if he is trying to impress her with his ability to refrain from the boyish antics going on around him. A few weeks earlier he wouldn’t have been the least bit concerned about this girl or his own maturity. Similar to Joyce’s “Araby”, in “Boys and Girls” the main character who is a young girl is also going through “changes” to her mental and physical self. Towards the beginning of the story our main character was what some would call a daddy’s girl. She was always outside helping her father rake leaves, water the foxes and doing whatever else her father needed assisting with. She enjoyed spending time with her father and being like the son he won’t have until Laird, her younger brother, is old enough to help. She grew so accustomed to this life style that it became natural to her, so when people like her mother and grandmother would tell her she is a girl and that …show more content…
In “Araby” the young boy makes quite a few impulsive decisions like following the girl to school one day and then offering to buy her something from the Araby bizarre knowing he didn’t have the money. Joyce writes, “I ran to the hall, seized my books and followed her” (Joyce137) and “If I go, I said, I will bring you something” (Joyce138). Both of these were impulsive decisions he hoped would get the girl to like him or even have her talk to him and in the end he slightly regretted these choices he made and at the end of the story the main character says “...And my eyes burned with anguish and anger” (Joyce141). He was angry at what this crush or girl has turned him into and for what he allowed himself to be turned into. In “Boys and Girls” the main characters main impulsive decision involved letting their horse Flora escape through the gate. “Instead of shutting the gate, I opened it as wide as I could. I didn’t make any decision to do this, it was just what I did” (Munro473). Even before this moment, earlier in the day the main character says the images of Mack the most recent horse put down were running through her head and deep down she couldn’t see the same thing happen to Flora, so she set Flora free. The