Both boys in "Araby" and "A&P" undergo an experience that changes their point of view of the world around them. In both their cases, the entity that produces the boy's epiphany is a woman. This is understood, as both boys are young teenagers who are on the brink of discovering intense emotional feelings for a woman for the first time. They are at a point in their lives where they are noticing and fantasizing about women. In fact, in "Araby" the boy's entire involvement with the girl is manifested from and revolved around solely his imagination and his fantasizing. Similarly, Sammy in "A&P" never speaks one word to his love interest, who he refers to as Queenie. Nonetheless, both boys are experiencing strong sexual desires at this point in their lives.

There are differences between the two boys in "A&P" and in "Araby" as well as similarities. Sammy seems to be older and more socially knowledgeable in comparison to the boy in "Araby." The boy's upbringing in an all-boys Catholic school tells us he is inexperienced socially, especially when it comes to women. This may also be the reason that he is more vulnerable and exposed when he realizes it wasn't true love after all. Whereas with Sammy, we get the feeling he knew he didn't stand a chance.

Each boy encompasses strong sexual desires throughout the story. Sammy is fully aware of his as he intimately observes, examines, and evaluates each of the three girls in their bathing suits. The chunky girl had "a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can." Later, he watches as Queenie takes out a dollar bill, "just having come from between the two smoothest scoops of vanilla [he] had ever known were there." On the other hand, the boy in "Araby" is not aware of his sexual longings. He says, "Her name sprang to my lips at moments in strange prayers and praises which I myself did not understand." One night, he describes the rain from inside the back drawing-room using the strong sexual connotation, "...I heard the rain impinge upon the earth, the fine incessant needles of water playing in the sodden beds." This image portrays rain as if it were penetrating a bed that is soaked. When he is speaking with the girl, he notices the light on her neck and hair and follows it to her dress, then to the boarder of her underwear slip. He notices her hand on a railing, which represents a phallic symbol. Many indications of sexual desire are hinted to us as readers, but the boy himself is oblivious to it. This is an example of dramatic irony.

There are many similarities and differences between the two boys in "Araby" and "A&P" and among their experiences

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Approximate Word count = 1256
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)