Araby (from Dubliners)

James Joyce
Araby is a short story by James Joyce about a young boy who falls deeply in love with a girl
who lives across the street. The author uses the voice of the boy as a narathor. The story begins
with the presentation of the street where the boy lives with his aunt and his uncle, named North
Richmond Street. The narathor describes the street as being quiet and blind - ,,it describes the
condition of the boy's relation to reality (02.01.2015) - with an ,, uninhabited house [],
detached from his neighbors. In my opinion this description shows a bleak image, from the
description of other houses it appears that the boy was a loner and also poor, as indicated by the
personification: ,, conscious of decent lives within them. The appearance of the two institutions
school and home aims at presenting the value system of those times.
The story continues with the narrations of the room where the former tenant of their house
died, he was a priest. The priest is a symbol for faith and religion that indicates that the author
was a christian. In this room, named drawing-room he find three old books that apparently
belonged to the priest: The Abbot, The Devout Communicant and The Memoirs of Vidocq which
are important in the story because its have the same themes and symbols: the faith in love and
religion. The boy prefers the last book ,,because its leaves were yellow. ,,In this paragraph we
get the first glimpses of the boy's romantic, and naive view of life. Joyce plays on our attention
to allegorical and symbolic details, for after the first paragraph we quickly realize that the
narrator is a young boy who isn't using figurative language self-consciously.
(http://www.mendele.com/WWD/WWDaraby.notes.html/ 02.01.2015)
The house where the boy lives is part of the same dark and cold imagine that narathor
describes in the first part of the story. It is presented as joyless and uninhabited: ,, air, musty from
having been long enclosed, hung in all the rooms. The adjectives musty, waste, useless express
the fact that ,,Joyce's technique is not subtle, and he forces even the most optimistic (or
oblivious) reader to take note of the lifelessness that surrounds the boy. (02.01.2015).
The garden image with ,, a central apple-tree leads me to the genesis, to the original sin. In
this story the young boy falls from grace because of his passion for his neighbor, which can be
considered a temptation. ( as the apple which made Adam to sin).
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Frca Ioana
Ro-En , Anul I

According narrator the priest was a generous man: ,,he had been a very charitable priest[]
he had left all his money to institutions and the furniture of his house to his sister. In my opinion
this description of priest is a irony because if he was so charitable as the narrator says he
wouldnt have so much money to donate after his death, on the other hand it is assumed that
priests should live in poverty covenant. The irony is accentuated by the furniture which the priest
left to his sister.
The winter with its short days emphasizes the inner conflict of the boy and the description
of the framework of action shows us a macabre sequence : ,,the houses had grown sombre", ,,the
cold air, ,,silent street, ,,dark muddy lanes , ,,dark dripping garderns, from which the boy is
trying to escape and its also show the limited activities that the residents can do. The darkness
becomes a kind of leitmotif of the story.
The ,,Light form the kitchen windows which ,,had filled the areas becomes a symbol of
hope, a symbol of future. ,,Joyce uses Light and Darkness as a symbol for the clash between
fantasy and reality that takes place within the narrator.
(http://www.mendele.com/WWD/WWDaraby.notes.html/02.01.2015), the light representing the
illusions and darkness representing the cruel reality.
The narrator is deeply in love with Mangans sister, she is his first love. He hides in the
shadow to watch her. The phrase: ,,her figure defined by the light from the half-opened door
denotes that ,,she is the light in his fantasy, someone who will lift him out of darkness
(02.01.2015). The boy confuses love with obsession, he is trying to spy Margans sister in every
morning from his house. He thinks that he is in love with this girl but all his actions shows that
he is obsessed with her, there are many examples that show this: ,,I ran to the hall [..] and
followed her. I kept her brown figure always in my eye [..] I had never spoken to her, except for
a few casual words, and yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood. The boy
follows her everywhere she goes like an obsessed. ,,In this example, you can plainly see that the
boys actions are being controlled by his obsession for the girl, and not by some great love he has
for her (02.01.2015). He has not even talked to her so he couldnt be in love with her, he sees
only her outer beauty, he never talks about her temper : ,,Her image accompanied me even in
places the most hostile to romance, by that ,,hostile place the boy refers to the road leading to
his aunt parcels where he meets drunken men and bargaining women (they are considered
sinners, which highlights the religion theme of the text). The author uses the metaphor : ,,I
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Frca Ioana
Ro-En , Anul I

imagined that I bore my chalice safely through a throng of foes which, according to me, it
means that the boy must pass through a difficult challenge without falling prey to temptation or
to the evil forces, ,,the chalice is a symbol for honor and innocence which was safely bore.
One raining evening when there was ,, no sound in the house the boy went to the room of
the dead priest and he put his hands together as if to pray (another symbol of religion). The
episode releaves the boys fear of darkness ,,Some distant lamp[...] I was thankful that I could
see so little. which is a sign of immaturity: fear of the dark is a childhood, infantile fear.
In the scene when the Mangans sister talks with him for the first time, the girl is interesed if
the boy will go to the Araby and she said she coudnt go because she must attend a retreat
scheduled at her convent. ,, Her whorish qualities come through in the way she flirtatiously plays
with the bracelet, as if she were inviting him to buy her an expensive piece of jewelry at the
bazaar. The "white curve of her neck" and the "white border of a petticoat" combine the symbolic
color of purity, associated with the Madonna, with sexual suggestiveness.
(www.123helpme.com/assets/6789.html/ 06.01.2015)
Because Mangans sister couldnt go to the bazaar the boy has promised to bring her
something, this promise has meant more for the boy: he hoped that if he bring her a gift, he will
gain her heart. He became very nervous about it ,, I could not call my wandering thoughts
together, all he can think about is the girl and the bazaar. So he asked permission from his aunt
to go to the bazaar. On Saturday he reminds his uncle the he will attend the bazaar in the
evening, but his uncle was late and he became agitated because he has promised a gift for
Mangans sister and, in his oprinion, if he not reach the bazaar, he could lose the girl. So he
became irritated of his uncle late and he walked through the house till he came to the window
where he could see the house where she lived. He stands there for an hour and thinking of her.
When he returns downstairs he found Mrs. Mercer - a visitor for tea - but his uncle has not
returned yet and he "had to endure the gossip of the tea-table".
His aunts words Im afraid you may put off your bazaar for this night of Our Lord. gives
another religious perspective on the text because, in a metaphorical plan, his burning desire to
get to the bazaar can be seen as a mission that face difficulties the delay of the train and his
uncles late - and only God can help him to reach to the destination.
When finally he got the money he hurried to take an empty third-class train to the
bazaar. ,, He finds Araby much like North Richmond Street, empty and dark with few people. (
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Ro-En , Anul I

www.antiessays.com/free-essays/Analyze-Questions-Of-Araby-182186.html / 14.01.2015).
Almost all the stalls was closed except of one which was still open, there was a young lady
which ignored him while she was talking with other men. ,,When she finally approaches, he
freezes in stare, transfixed by his awkwardness. As the woman turns and walks away, he realizes
the opportunity of winning his friends sister through gift has slipped away.
(http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=20252 / 14.01.2015)
The story ends with the words "Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature
driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger that describes the
emotions of the boy, the hard time that boy is going through. These final words emphasizes the
feeling of disappointment when wakes up to reality. He feels like all that he done before was in
vain.
In conclusion, I have to say that ,, Araby is not actually a love story, but rather a story that
follows the evolution of the boy, where religion and love are the main themes.

Frca Ioana
Ro-En , Anul I