Comparison and Contrast of Araby and One's a Heifer

Introduction

James Augustine Aloysius Joyce is one of the most prominent literary writers of the Modernist period of literature. Araby is a short story included in the Joyce's collection namely Dubliners consisting on fifteen short stories. Joyce wrote Dubliners between 1904 and 1906 but was published in 1904.

Sinclair Ross is another literary figure of the nineteenth century who mainly portrayed life in the Canadian Prairies in his fiction. One's a Heifer is an outstanding short story to his credit which was written in the late 1930's but was published in 1944. Araby and One's Heifer highly reflect on each other regarding theme particularly with slight differences.

Thesis statement

Joyce's Araby and Ross's One's a Heifer are similar in terms of coming of age theme and teenage instincts but differ in their plot and setting.

Similarities and Differences between Araby and One's a Heifer

Themes

The most important similarity between Araby and One's a Heifer is coming of age theme. In both the stories author talks about a child's transition from childhood to adolescence and unfamiliar feelings embedded with adolescence (Bishop, p. 70). The main character of Araby feels seductive passion for his friend Mangan's sister. In the same way the protagonist of One's a Heifer is hit by the urge of finding the lost calves but his vigor is also caused by the outburst of adolescence that develops the impulse of proving himself much more responsible and competent to succeed in completing the task at hand.

Another similarity in both the stories is contradiction between the real and imaginary world of the protagonists that drive their course of actions. They have developed their own fantasy world which can satisfy their soul as they both live in a place that shatters their dreams and ideals. In Araby these lines reveal narrators nuisance, “Our shouts echoed in the silent street. The career of our play brought us through the dark muddy lanes behind the houses where we ran the gantlet of the rough tribes from the cottages, to the back doors of the dark dripping gardens where odors arose from the ash pits” (Rampton, pp.196).

Likewise the mistake that creates substance in One's a Heifer is just a confusion caused by the narrator's mental vision that connects the physical resemblance of Vickers' calves with his lost ones. As his dream depicts his mental navigation, “There was a bright light suddenly and the owl was sitting over the door with his yellow eyes like a pair of lanterns. The calves, he told me were in the other stall with the sick colt” (Lynch & Rampton, p.559).

Characters

The basic characterization of both the stories is quiet similar in its nature. Both stories are based on a young boy who is at the verge of adolescence. The protagonists in both the stories have been living with uncle and aunt who apparently limit the ambitions of young boys in both of the stories. Then there is one antagonist in both stories that is Mangan's sister ...