Araby: The Loss Of Innocence

“Araby” The Loss of Innocence Author James Joyce, in his short story “Araby,” in Stephen Greenblatt’s The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume II, notes that “Joyce was drawing on his own childhood recollections” (1223). It is often said that writers write from their own experience, and “Araby” is no exception. The reality is that a large proportion of young boys today experience similar fantasies, and this writer is no exception. “Araby” is the story of a boy’s passion, narrated by a grown man, set during harsh economic times. The main character is a boy who becomes knotted in the dreams of his youth as he recalls his first love. It is the story of solitude, coupled with the exuberance of a young boys dreams, and the loss of those dreams. The joy of a child’s imagination is the expression that includes ideas, daydreams, and reveling in what life holds; rather than the nightmares, expectations and the uncertainties of life. It is the story of a young boy coming of age, while enamored with the beauty of an older woman, dreaming that he is in love with her, and she with him. This is the story

I hear echoes of the poet D.H. Lawrence. The thrush refers to not only the bird itself but also the souls of humankind. Both are growing frail, old, and smaller in stature, and will by the force of nature, die. Lawrence said similarly, “I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself” (Lawrence). Both poets are talking about the folly of self-pity. The difference is found in the idea that Hardy is having difficulty accepting that change is inevitable and that one must change in order to survive. Lawrence, on the other hand, recognizes that change is a natural part of life and that self-pity does not serve one