Cynthia Griffin

Professor Quinn

Eng 102

April 1, 2021

Loss of Innocence

Lives are vastly different for everyone, people experiencing an array of different

moments that shape them into who they are. This sort of growth, however, always comes from

the same place--a loss of innocence. A great representation of this change is shown in the short

stories “A&P” by John Updike and “Araby” by James Joyce, where the narrators of the stories

both have character growth resulting from a crush they have on a girl in the story. This journey,

stemming from a desire that comes along with coming of age, is an essential aspect of both

stories. In the short stories, “A&P” and “Araby” by John Updike and James Joyce, the authors

use different descriptive techniques--specifically formal and informal language--to illustrate the

loss of innocence Sammy and the boy go through as they traverse the layers of infatuation.

In “A&P”, Updike uses very informal language to communicate the more primal desires

that come along with the narrator, Sammy’s infatuation. Sammy, a mid to late teen working in

his town’s local grocery store, becomes instantly infatuated with a girl that walks into the store in

a bathing suit to buy some herring for her mother. This girl, referred to by Sammy as ‘Queenie’,

is first noticed by Sammy when “...she walked straight on slowly, on these long white prima-

donna legs'' (Updike 1). Updike’s casual and somewhat objectifying language used to not only

describe Queenie but the other two girls accompanying her reveal Sammy’s more sexual

infatuation with this girl that comes with the loss of innocence he goes through while getting

older. Updike specifically addressing the appearance of Queenie through the eyes of Sammy as
“prima-donna” is a more modern and judgemental way of describing her appearance, illustrating

that Sammy’s infatuation with this girl stems from lust rather than loving respect for her.

Contrary to Updike’s derogatory description, Joyce’s use of formal language in “Araby”

is elegant and romanticized. While thinking of the girl he fancies, the narrator’s reaction was

“My eyes were often full of tears...and at times a flood from my heart seemed to pour itself out

into my bosom”(Joyce 2) revealing his deep overflow of emotions that come along with

infatuation. This sort of adoration is one that is pure, fuelled by a romanticized devotion to his

friend’s sister. Joyce stating that the narrator experienced “...a flood from my heart…”(Updike 2)

emphasized the overwhelming and oftentimes confusing emotional maturing that comes with the

loss of innocence from having an infatuation. The boy is confused, entering an unknown and

uncontrollable emotional state that allowed for self-discovery. However, through the journey of

self-discovery, the boy loses a sense of his innocence--sacrificing it for this exploration of

newfound feelings.

While both Updike and Joyce use very descriptive language, they are both vastly

different in nature--Updike’s use of objectifying and derogatory language vastly contrasts

Joyce’s use of poetic and Shakespearian language. While on the cash register in the A&P,

Sammy observed one of the other girls with Queenie, observing that “She was a chunky kid, with

a good tan sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it”(Updike

1). This objectification of the girls’ figures, specifically focusing on her breast and butt area

while observing her, not only shows his judgment of the girls’ physical figures but also illustrates

his sexual desire towards the girls, as he is only focusing on the physical attributes of the girls

and not their actual character. Contradictingly, in “Araby”, the boy states that “I imagined that I

bore my chalice safely through a throng of foes'' (Joyce 2) showing his purer intentions in the
infatuation for his friend’s sister. The reference of a chalice could be referencing his chivalry, the

foes representing unknown or more sinful emotions, illuminating his more innocent intentions

with this infatuation--or at least his determination for it to be a purer admiration. Updike’s focus

on the more sexual attraction that comes along with infatuation in “A&P” while Joyce highlights

the more pure desire for emotional closeness with an infatuation with “Araby” shows the

different levels of admiration--from the more mature, primal desires to the emotional

development.

The elegant writing of “Araby” portrays the more emotionally mature and tamed

perspective of love, while the objectifying and lustful descriptions in “A&P” show the more

mature, sexual aspects of infatuation while being immature about the more romantic, emotional

aspects of infatuation. This contradiction is actually quite ironic, considering the boy in “Araby”

is younger than Sammy in “A&P”, that the boy has a much more mature emotional reaction to

infatuation than the older boy, Sammy. This contrast reveals a lot about the different layers of

infatuation, the more mature ones--whether it be mature in the lusting sense or mature in the

emotional integrity sense--and the more innocent/childish ones. Both approach this desire from

very different angles, Sammy from the side of more physical infatuation and the boy from the

more mental infatuation side, however, they both have a very similar goal in mind--to be noticed

by their counterpart. Sammy stands up for the girl to his boss, attempting to appear as a sort of

hero, while the boy goes to this shop to get the girl a gift because she cannot go herself--both

attempting to use their status or access to appear worthy to the girls. This is the ultimate

conclusion of the infatuation for both, realizing that their attempts to gain the girls’ attention

failed and that this infatuation was unrequited.

 Throughout all of this, the boys both seem to learn things about themselves through their

journeys, that life goes on. Sammy, after realizing his mistake in losing his job to stand up for a

girl that didn’t notice him, understands that as his life moves forward this impulsive decision

done from blind love was going to have consequences. The boy, after a similar realization of his

blindness throughout his infatuation for this girl, realizes all of the things he sacrificed and

disregarded to try and gain this girl’s favor and comes to look at himself in a moment of self-

reflection. Both come out of this tunnel to look at themselves more clearly, and through losing

themselves in someone else and emerging from the other end, have come to see themselves more

clearly than they did before going in. So although there may be mistakes and regrets, the lessons

learned by both characters through those sacrifices are irreplaceable and inexcusably essential to

the growth of their characters.

Work Cited

Joyce, James. “Araby”, Dubliners, 1914.

Updike, John. “A&P”, The New Yorker, 1961.