Growing Up in Araby by James Joyce and Boys and Girls by...

Growing Up in Araby by James Joyce and Boys and Girls by Alice Munro In the stories â€Å"Araby† by James Joyce, and â€Å"Boys and Girls† by Alice Munro, there is a common theme of growing up. In both of these stories the characters came to a realization of who they were and what they wanted to be. They both are of the age when reality strikes and priorities take on meaning. The characters in both stories evolve through rites of passage but the way in which these revolutions occur differ with each character. These stories can be seen as different from each other in many ways. The young boy lives in a house in a suburban area without a mother or a father, but with guardians. He has a group of friends nearby he hangs out with. Though, he has no†¦show more content†¦Both kids seem lonely and in their own realm. They are both going through a time in their life where they are changing. Each character, in his or her own way, came to a realization. The boy in â€Å"Araby†, found the â€Å"finer† things in life. He no longer will be a little kid playing ball in the street, like his friends. He now frowns upon them for being such â€Å"children†. I think his revolution came when he went to Araby to buy a gift. He was so distraught by being late and having to wait upon somebody else that, he now wants to be his own man. He wants to be in charge of his own self, without having to wait around for permission from other people, especially when their not even his parents. The young girl in â€Å"Boys and Girls† by Munro, follows her father around and does the job of a â€Å"boy†. She was learning to shoot a gun, gave the foxes water, raked the grass after her father cut it and made a canopy for the foxes with it, and anything else her father told her to do. She thought the work in the house by her mother was â€Å" endless, dreary and peculiarly depressing.† Yet, â€Å"Work done out of doors, and in my father’s service, was ritualistically important.† Whenever her mother gave her â€Å"female† jobs to do indoors, she would â€Å" run out of the house, trying to get out of earshot before (her) mother thought of what she wanted her to do next.† She loathed the womanly work done inside. She didShow MoreRelatedHow I Met My Husband And Araby Analysis1550 Words   |  7 Pagesthem in order to mature. In How I Met My Husband and Araby, both authors showed how their main characters developed over time. Each ma in character from both stories transitioned from a child to a young adolescent. However, each character’s path differs in order to find themselves. For instance, How I Met My Husband is told in the first person point of view and the main character is a girl. Whereas, Araby is told from the perspective of a young boy. Both characters are around the same age and begin