At one time or another in life, people are faced with a situation where they have to choose between the reality and fantasies of romance especially when they are young and life seems too good. Many works of literature have written with this theme, but the most common of them all is seen in the works of James Joyce, Araby and John Updike, A & P. there are several differences and similarities in this books although the most pronounced is the similarity of the theme and plot since the two revolve about a young man out to differentiate between reality and fantasy in romance. This essay seeks to compare and contrast the two works of literature.

Similarities and differences

In A &P, Sammy talks about customers and how they behaved in his town and compares the town people with sheep as he argues that they have been brainwashed. Apparently, he thinks that life in this town is so boring that he intends to move out. One the other hand, the boy in Araby replaces the town with a bazaar. The difference here is that instead of seeing the bazaar as boring as it would be the case with Sammy, the other boy thinks that the bazaar holds the right gift that he could offer to his girl. Life to him is not boring in the bazaar is it is for Sammy in the town.

There is also another significant difference that has the propensity for being overlooked. This is the difference in ages of the two young men. Updike focuses his story on a young man who is in his twenties but Araby goes ahead to show a boy of a much tender age. this is what brings about a separation of the two stories by establishing divergence of thought but it is also important because it helps the leader see that the age difference does not change the views of men concerning women as both are fascinated by the whiteness of the skins of the women.

The two playwright materials exposed various sensitive issues in the society especially among the youth. The two short stories are informative regarding the environment of young men in the society and their attraction to their female counterpart. Notably, the stories are diverse on the issue of social setting that young generation experience in the society in search of identity as well as independence. However, the stories have disparities in different forms developed from the perspective of the youths in relation of the social environment evaluated by the authors.  Notably, comparing of the stories on the bases of the established theme poses to establish an opt platform to identify correlation as well as disparities on the two stories.

 In the short story A& P the author portrays the theme of consequences in relation to making the right choices in the society. Through his main character in the story this aspect in the society is clearly highlighted and the implications of making unrealistic choices are highlighted. Sammy a young man working made decision that allowed woman to continue shopping clothed in garment that are suitable in beach environment. In addition the young man allowed them to shop while barefooted. This choice he made regarding their dress code while shopping had various implications in his life. In addition, the notion of breaking role in the particular social setting is noticeable in the story via the acceptance of the young women to make shopping improperly dressed. On the other hand the story Arab has mounted on various social themes that give correlation of an individual attributes to the behavioral patterns.

. The theme of age development is evident in the story through growth of the young man in the story who grew experiencing infatuation and finally became in love with a young lady.