Araby Essays

  • James Joyce's Araby - An Analysis of Araby

    528 Words  | 2 Pages

    Analysis of Joyce's Araby "Araby" is a short complex story by Joyce that I believe is a reflection of his own life as a boy growing up in Dublin. Joyce uses the voice of a young boy as a narrator; however the narrator seems much more mature then the boy in the story. The story focuses on escape and fantasy; about darkness, despair, and enlightenment: and I believe it is a retrospective of Joyce's look back at life and the constant struggle between ideals and reality. I believe Araby employs many

  • James Joyce's Araby - Setting in Araby

    1591 Words  | 4 Pages

    Setting in James Joyce's Araby In the opening paragraphs of James Joyce's short story, "Araby," the setting takes center stage to the narrator. Joyce tends carefully to the exquisite detail of personifying his setting, so that the narrator's emotions may be enhanced. To create a genuine sense of mood, and reality, Joyce uses many techniques such as first person narration, style of prose, imagery, and most of all setting. The setting of a short story is vital to the development of character.

  • James Joyce's Araby - The Lonely Quest in Araby

    1298 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Lonely Quest in "Araby" Universality of experience makes James Joyce's "Araby" interesting, readers respond instinctively to an experience that could have been their own. It is part of the instinctual nature of man to long for what he feels is the lost spirituality of his world. In all ages man has believed that it is possible to search for and find a talisman, which, if brought back, will return this lost spirituality. The development of theme in "Araby" resembles the myth of the quest

  • James Joyce's Araby - Loss of Innocence in Araby

    874 Words  | 2 Pages

    Loss of Innocence in Araby In her story, "Araby," James Joyce concentrates on character rather than on plot to reveal the ironies inherent in self-deception. On one level "Araby" is a story of initiation, of a boy’s quest for the ideal. The quest ends in failure but results in an inner awareness and a first step into manhood. On another level the story consists of a grown man's remembered experience, for the story is told in retrospect by a man who looks back to a particular moment of intense

  • James Joyce's Araby - Setting and Atmosphere in Araby

    844 Words  | 2 Pages

    Setting and Atmosphere in Araby Each of the stories in Dubliners consists of a portrait in which Dublin contributes to the dehumanizing experience of modem life. The boy in the story "Araby" is intensely subject to the city's dark, hopeless conformity, and his tragic yearning toward the exotic in the face of drab, ugly reality forms the center of the story. On its simplest level, "Araby" is a story about a boy's first love. On a deeper level, however, it is a story about the world in which

  • Araby Knight

    1619 Words  | 4 Pages

    "Araby" Knight The short story "Araby" by James Joyce could very well be described as a deep poem written in prose. Read casually, it seems all but incomprehensible, nothing more than a series of depressing impressions and memories thrown together in a jumble and somehow meant to depict a childhood infatuation. Like the sweet milk inside a coconut, the pleasure of this story comes only to the reader who is willing to put forth the intense effort necessary to comprehend it. Or like an onion, peeling

  • James Joyce's Araby - The Symbol of the Church in Araby

    1200 Words  | 3 Pages

    James Joyce's Dubliners - The Symbol of the Church in Araby Joyce's short story "Araby" is filled with symbolic images of a church. It opens and closes with strong symbols, and in the body of the story, the images are shaped by the young), Irish narrator's impressions of the effect the Church of Ireland has upon the people of Ire-land. The boy is fiercely determined to invest in someone within this Church the holiness he feels should be the natural state of all within it, but a succession of

  • James Joyce's Araby - Lack of Insight in Araby

    1076 Words  | 3 Pages

    Araby – Lack of Insight Readers of "Araby" often focus on the final scene as the key to the story. They assume the boy experi­ences some profound insight about himself when he gazes "up into the darkness." I believe, however, that the boy sees nothing and learns nothing--either about himself or others. He's not self- reflective; he's merely self-absorbed. The evidence supporting this interpretation is the imagery of blindness and the ironic point of view of the narrator. There can seem to

  • James Joyce's Araby - The Ironic Narrator of Araby

    882 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Ironic Narrator of  "Araby" Although James Joyce's story "Araby" is told from the first per-son viewpoint of its young protagonist, we do not receive the impression that a boy tells the story. Instead, the narrator seems to be a man matured well beyond the experience of the story. The mature man reminisces about his youthful hopes, desires, and frustrations. More than if a boy's mind had reconstructed the events of the story for us, this particular way of telling the story enables us to perceive

  • James Joyce's Araby and Eveline

    1063 Words  | 3 Pages

    James Joyce's "Araby" and "Eveline" In 'Araby' and 'Eveline' Joyce uses religious symbols to show the importance of the Catholic religion in both of the main characters' lives. Both of these stories take place in Dublin, Ireland, a place that is very strong in its belief in the Catholic religion. In 'Araby,' the imagery of the infamous 'Fall' is presented to the reader within the second paragraph to indicate its importance. The themes of religious masses can be found in 'Eveline.' The concept

  • Araby: A Lesson in Adolescence

    1166 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Araby” Lesson in Adolescence In his brief but complex story "Araby," James Joyce concentrates on character rather than on plot to reveal the ironies within self-deception. On one level "Araby" is a story of initiation, of a boy's quest for the ideal. The quest ends in failure but results in an inner awareness and a first step into manhood. On another level the story consists of a grown man's remembered experience, for a man who looks back to a particular moment of intense meaning and insight

  • James Joyce's Araby - Araby as Epiphany for the Common Man

    2076 Words  | 5 Pages

    James Joyce's Dubliners - Araby as Epiphany for the Common Man Joseph Campbell was one of many theorists who have seen basic common denominators in the myths of the world's great religions, Christianity among them, and have demonstrated how elements of myth have found their way into "non-religious" stories. Action heroes, in this respect, are not unlike saints. Biblical stories are, quite simply, the mythos of the Catholic religion, with saints being the heroes in such stories. The Star Wars

  • James Joyce's Araby

    1190 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Tragedy of Araby In James Joyce’s Araby, a young boy finds himself in love with an older girl. The girl, Mangan’s sister, refuses to love him back and instead ignores him. This crushes the boy and makes his hunger for her even more stronger. He sometimes finds himself hopelessly alone in the darkness thinking about her, awaiting for the day she would recognize his devotion to her. “ At night in my bedroom…her image came between me and the page I strove to read (805).” “At last she spoke

  • Araby by James Joyce

    629 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Araby” by James Joyce There seems to be a great deal of controversy surrounding the short story, “Araby” by James Joyce. This isn’t controversy dealing with various political issues or controversy involving issues of free speech or anything related to these things. It is of a more simple matter: whether the young boy in this story is capable of having a deep emotional realization at the conclusion of the story. It is obvious to me via the final sentence, (Araby, 398), that he does not make a

  • Comparing Araby and Lust

    790 Words  | 2 Pages

    Joyce’s Araby begins as a story about a young boy and his first love, his neighbor referred to in the story as Mangan's sister. However, the young boy soon turns his innocent love and curiosity into a much more intense desire, transforming this female and his journey to the bazaar into something much more intense and lustful. From the beginning, Joyce paints a picture of the neighborhood in which the boy lives as very dark and cold. Even the rooms within his house are described as unfriendly, "Air

  • James Joyce's Araby

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    Araby: Joycean Romanticism of the Church Life is filled with loneliness and times when a person feels unsure. When these times arise is when most people turn to their faith in the church or faith in fate. Certain events in one’s life can send them reeling for something that they can find solace in. Security from the turbulent world is given through faith and hope. When times are at there hardest what can you do? Without faith you can get stuck, and slowly dragged down by the world decaying around

  • Comparing Death in Araby and The Metamorphosis

    974 Words  | 2 Pages

    Death in Araby and The Metamorphosis Many readers have commented on the contrast of light and darkness in the story Araby by James Joyce. Perhaps the death of the priest in Araby adds to the "darkness" that the boy experiences when he is thinking about Mangan's sister, as contrasted with the light he experiences when he is actually in her presence. It is interesting that the death of the priest does not become so "dark" until Mangan's sister is introduced. In the first scene where the boy visits

  • James Joyce's Araby - Character, Structure and Style in Araby

    2408 Words  | 5 Pages

    Style in Araby According to Hazel Edwards, “A good story writer needs to be a craftsman, for the construction is tighter than that required for most novels. Usually a short story concentrates on a few characters- rarely more than three major ones. The story revolves around a single, dramatic incident which typifies the characters’ reactions. Length varies from 1,000 to about 5,000 words.” With these characteristics in mind, then we are going to examine James Joyce’s short story Araby  in terms

  • Comparing Araby and Genesis

    1491 Words  | 3 Pages

    between Araby and Genesis In the Bible, the story of creation occurs in the garden of Eden.  The book of Genesis tells the tale of Adam and Eve, whom God allowed to eat the fruit from any tree in the garden except for that of the central tree of knowledge.  Unfortunately, with the serpent’s deceitful encouragement, Eve enticed Adam to eat from that banned tree.  The fruit opened Adam’s eyes to the reality that he was naked (Gen. 3:7-20).  Interestingly, the second paragraph of “Araby” alludes

  • James Joyce's Araby

    842 Words  | 2 Pages

    James Joyce's Araby The story “Araby,” by James Joyce, shows how people often expect more than that which ordinary reality can provide and consequently feel disappointed when they do not receive what they expect. Another fascinating piece of literature is the poetry collection The Black Riders and Other Lines by Stephen Crane. What, if anything, does one have to do with the other? This paper will compare one of Crane’s poems to Joyce’s story. “Araby” tells the story of a young boy’s disillusionment