Similarities And Differences Between Araby And A Woman On A Roof

Why do some men think that women need men to protect them and to do things for them? In return these men think that they deserve something in return. “Araby” by James Joyce and “A Woman on a Roof” by Doris Lessing are stories about men trying to get women to love them for little in return. In “A Woman on a Roof” is a story about a teenage boy named Tom, who falls in love with a woman whom he and his colleagues see on a roof a couple houses away. “Araby” is about a boy that falls in love with his friend Mangan’s sister. He loves to watch and follow her, but never actually talks to the beautiful girl. As one can see these two main characters have a lot in common. In both “Araby” and “A Woman on a Roof” the main characters both have a love for …show more content…
However, the both end up disappointed in the end of the stories. The two protagonists both expect to be rewarded when they encounter the women. When Tom goes up to the roof to approach the woman in the red bathing suit. When he gets up to the roof, the narrator explains what he looks like and says, “The boy stood grinning, foolish, claiming the tenderness he expected from her”(5). Tom thinks that now that he can found her, she is automatically his. The woman on the roof says, “What do you want,” and Tom is completely surprised that the woman is not welcoming the creepy teenager that snuck into her house to watch a woman sunbathe. What Tom does not see is that he has done nothing that needs rewarding. Tom thinks that he has been protecting her from Stanley’s whistles, but he was whistling earlier. Also he still has been staring at her almost naked for a couple days. When the boy in “Araby” goes to the bazaar to get Mangan’s sister a gift he expects her to reward him as well. He thinks this is true, so he goes through a lot of trouble just to get her the gift. First, his uncle comes home late from the bar. His aunt tries to convince him to not go to the bazaar because of how late it was. In the end, he is allowed to go, but he has more issues getting there. The train is delayed, which makes the narrator even later. He would not go through all this trouble to …show more content…
The “Woman on a Roof” completely shuts down these ideas that Tom has over women. She is very powerful and embarrasses Tom. Still in the world today, some men think they are more powerful than women. As of today, women are becoming more powerful. They are running for president. Some are leaders of foreign countries. Gender equality is a serious issue and hopefully it is beginning to go