Comparing Sammy's Mistake: Summary And Explanation

necessities which do indeed lie in wait for him.” When Sammy decides to quit his job to show the girls that he supported their way of dressing, he finds that the girls have already left and did not care. It is at this point where reality finally hits Sammy hard, but then he arrives at another innocent conclusion: “I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter” (Dessner ,n.p.). At this point, Sammy thinks that life is over, but the reader knows that it is just beginning. The setting in a way supports Sammy view of a conforming society and influences him make the decisions he made. A grocery store was an integral part of the American way of life because that is where people would buy products to satisfy their basic needs, however

Even though he doesn 't have that much reliability as a narrator his willingness to say the truth reveals that he has the will to act differently. Even though Sammy does not gain insight from his incidences at work until the very end he does show growth. For example, at the beginning of the story he just complains about the conformity and dullness of his community until the girls in bathing suits defy that conformity and he follows their example by taking off his A and P bow tie and apron as a form of activism. In others words, he went from complaining about a problem to actually doing something about it which reflects a lot of growth. Overall, Sammy tells the story in a very sarcastic tone and a continuous flow of humor however darkness looms at every corner in the story. In the end, there is a shift in tone as it shifts from sarcastic one to a dreadful one as Sammy faces the reality of life alone in isolation. After he realizes that the girls are gone, he is traumatized, mad and at the same time scared of the consequences that he will face for his actions as he opens his eyes to the darkness in the

Both stories revolve around the theme of lost innocence in that they relate how both a young man and boy came to lose their innocence in much of the same way. For example, after the girls, Queenie and her trio and Mangan’s sister, comes into the lives of the narrators they immediately become “distracted, disoriented, and agitated” (Wells, n.p.). For example, in “Araby” when a teacher accused the narrator of being unfocused he instead let his thoughts travel to Mangan 's sister’s words and gestures that act like “fingers…. upon the wires” that play him like a harp (Wells, n.p.). Similarly, when the the trio of girls walk in the store Sammy seems to forget if he had rung the item he had on his hands (Wells, n.p.). Both boys are attracted to these girls because they stand out in their dull environment, the young boy to the “white curve of her neck,” “white border of her petticoat” and Sammy to Queenies “long prima donna legs” (Wells, n.p.). In both stories, Queenie and Mangan 's sister are worshipped by the narrators as if they were saints or queens. Queenie by her bathing suit’s exposed “shining rim” and Mangan’s sister by her shining halo quality (Wells, n.p.). In both stories the girls serve as symbols of seduction that allure this young boy and young man to seduction through their seductive gestures. For example, when queenie turns slowly she causes Sammy’s stomach to “rub the inside of his apron,” which is the same feeling that the young boy in Dublin felt when Mangan 's