Compare/Contrast of A&P and Araby
...f dynamite in an A&P and the people would by and large keep reaching and checking oatmeal off their lists and muttering…” Then the girls come in and things seem to brighten a little, and the narrator isn’t so bored. He seems more eager to describe the girls physically than he did anything else in the store. His descriptions also suddenly become more detailed. “Araby” on the contrary seems quite empty. Its almost like the town is a ghost town until later at night. As the narrator describes the town he really doesn’t mention other random people on the streets or in the town. What’s going on in his surroundings seem less important to the setting of the story than in “A&P.” The only specific person he mentions is the priest that died in the back room of his house, and this does not seem relevant to the plot of the story nor is it very encouraging, although it does help create a distressing setting. When the narrator describes the town itself he uses words that are kind of dreary and depressing. For example in the very first sentence instead of describing the road as a dead end he says, “North Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street…” By using the word blind he emphasizes his vulnerability and how secluded he feels not only within his town, but within himself and his love for Mengan’s sister as well. The style of the houses in the town is slightly redundant. He describes them all as having the same appearance and brown color. The houses are not only depressing in their similitude, but also that they sort of look like what could be described as faces lined up down the street, all of them kind of scowling at anyone who might go by. Mengan’s sister kind of brightens the scenery by giving the narrator something to focus on and look forward to every day. In addition, the language and style that the two stories are written in are extremely different. The language in “A&P” is like that of a teenager. This suggests the narrator is telling the story shortly after it happened. He uses words such as “can” and “scoops of vanilla” to describe Queenie’s physical appearance. This also sort of eases the uniformity of the story and its surroundings. The narrator really focuses on the physical appearance of the girls, how they walk, and what they buy. From these very simple and natural things he infers that they are high society, and lead more exciting lives than him. There really doesn’t seem to be too much reflection on the incident, so the reader can assume that there has not been a ...