An Analysis of James Joyce's Araby
James Joyce's "Araby" may seem at first glance to be only a story about a young boy's first love. However, there is an underlying theme of his effort to escape an inimical reality by transforming a neighbor girl into something larger than life, a spot of light in an otherwise dark and somber environment.
Joyce's description of North Richmond Street evokes images of a vacuous, joyless, and stagnant environment. The house in which the young boy lives seems equally cold and gray. The narrator's description depicts a close and stifling environment: "Air, musty from having long been enclosed, hung in all the rooms, and the waste room behind the kitchen was littered with old and useless papers." (38) Another passage speaks of, "The high cold empty gloomy rooms" in the upper part of the house, and evokes a picture of a gloomy and repressed existence.
The protagonist detaches himself from this ugly atmosphere leached of vitality with dreams of Mangan's sister. In contrast to his dark surroundings, he sees her as a something bright in his life, as evidenced by his description of "her figure defined by the light from the half-opened door". (38) Later, as he talks with her at the railings, the narrator relates: "The light from the lamp opposite our door caught the white curve of her neck, lit up her hair that rested there and, falling, lit up the hand upon the railing." (39) His preoccupation with first love is consuming and serves as an escape from the harsh, dirty truths of his existence.
On a rainy evening, the object of his fascination spoke to the boy as he stood, hands clasped, and murmured, "Oh love! Oh love!" (39) Her address must seem almost miraculous to him. When she mentions how much she would love to go to Araby, his promise to bring her something from the bazaar seems to imply his feeling that this might somehow bring about a reciprocation of his love. His anticipation of the trip "cast an Eastern enchantment" over him as he looks forward to his trip to what his love describes as a "splendid bazaar" (39), which sets him up for the disappointment that lies ahead.
The boy's final disappointment begins with his uncle's drunken preoccupation with his own agenda, which causes him to forget about the promised trip to the bazaar and come home late.
The author illustrates the “dim, rundown apartment complex,” she walks in, hand and hand with her girlfriend. Using the terms “dim,” and “rundown” portrays the apartment complex as an unsafe, unclean environment; such an environment augments the violence the author anticipates. Continuing to develop a perilous backdrop for the narrative, the author describes the night sky “as the perfect glow that surrounded [them] moments before faded into dark blues and blacks, silently watching.” Descriptions of the dark, watching sky expand upon the eerie setting of the apartment complex by using personification to give the sky a looming, ominous quality. Such a foreboding sky, as well as the dingy apartment complex portrayed by the author, amplify the narrator’s fear of violence due to her sexuality and drive her terror throughout the climax of the
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I noticed a lot of auditory imagery in "Araby" that helped to enhance the meaning of the story. The first is the description of the sound in the streets when the young man is walking by thinking of the girl he loves. He hears the "curses of laborers," the "shrill litanies of shop boys," and "nasal chantings of street singers." All of these images, besides just making the street seem busy, also make it seem like an unpleasant and intruding scene, almost like you would want to cover your ears and hurry through as fast as possible. This compliments perfectly the boy's imagination that he is "carrying his chalice safely through a throng of foes." In the scene where the boy is in the priest's house late at night, the auditory imagery helps contribute to the sense of drama. "There was no sound in the house," but outside boy heard the rain "impinge upon the earth" with "fine incessant needles of water." The choice of words here makes the rain seem almost as if it is hostile. You can hear the force and fury of the storm, and this makes the emotions the boy is feeling seem even more intense.
Modern medicine is in a period of profound change. Everyday, more and more ideas from other cultures are being transferred and integrated into our society. Many treatments that people are now familiar with have come from other traditions. Aspirin and quinine are two familiar examples of treatments that have been “westernized” by science. Alternative medical traditions will not replace western medicine, but instead are adding a new dimension of treatment that will only strengthen modern medicine. Western medicine is the clear leader in infectious disease, some cancers, heart disease, surgery, emergency medicine and trauma care. However, for the ordinary complaints of everyday life, the aches and pains of joints, bones and muscles, alternative medicine is the best choice of remedy.
In his short story “Araby”, James Joyce tells a story of a young boy’s infatuation with his friend’s sister, Mangan, and the issues that arise which ultimately extinguish his love for her. In his first struggle, the narrator admires Mangan’s outer beauty, however, “her name was like a summons to all his blood,” which made him embarrassed to talk with her (Joyce 318). Every day he would look under a curtain in the room and wait for her to walk outside so he could follow her to school, but then he would simply walk quickly by and never say anything to her (Joyce 318). In addition to his inability to share his feelings with Mangan, the boy allows difficulties to get in the way of his feelings for her. After struggling to get his uncle’s permission
Traditional medicine plays a vital role in health care, which is based on scientific researches, rigorous experiments and clinical practices (World Health Organization, 2000). With the growth of chronic diseases, ageing and the diversity pathogenic factors, the medical environment, and conditions have changed. In recent decades, modern scientific medicine was developed in the Western world, such as Europe and the United States, which considered complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as normal treatment. Alternative healthcare aim to treat physical and mental illness, using methods such as acupuncture, homeopathy and herbal medicine (ibid). Singh and Ernst (2009) state that alternative medicine has limited efficacy for certain ailments,
How the Setting Reinforces the Theme and Characters in Araby. The setting in "Araby" reinforces the theme and the characters by using imagery of light and darkness. The experiences of the boy in James Joyce's The "Araby" illustrates how people often expect more than ordinary reality can. provide and then feel disillusioned and disappointed.
In the story of, "Araby" James Joyce concentrated on three main themes that will explain the purpose of the narrative. The story unfolded on North Richmond Street, which is a street composed of two rows of houses, in a desolated neighborhood. Despite the dreary surroundings of "dark muddy lanes" and "ash pits" the boy tried to find evidence of love and beauty in his surroundings. Throughout the story, the boy went through a variety of changes that will pose as different themes of the story including alienation, transformation, and the meaning of religion (Borey).
Although “Araby” is a fairly short story, author James Joyce does a remarkable job of discussing some very deep issues within it. On the surface it appears to be a story of a boy's trip to the market to get a gift for the girl he has a crush on. Yet deeper down it is about a lonely boy who makes a pilgrimage to an eastern-styled bazaar in hopes that it will somehow alleviate his miserable life. James Joyce’s uses the boy in “Araby” to expose a story of isolation and lack of control. These themes of alienation and control are ultimately linked because it will be seen that the source of the boy's emotional distance is his lack of control over his life.
The theme of light and darkness is apparent throughout Joyce's Araby. The dark, sombre setting of the story creates a sense of hopelessness within the narrator, an unnamed young boy. The negative connotations associated with the city of Dublin are used to illustrate the narrator's state of hopelessness. It is only through his illusions that he is able to catch a glimpse of light amidst the darkness.
In “Araby”, author James Joyce presents a male adolescent who becomes infatuated with an idealized version of a schoolgirl, and explores the consequences which result from the disillusionment of his dreams. While living with his uncle and aunt, the main character acts a joyous presence in an otherwise depressing neighborhood. In Katherine Mansfield’s, The Garden Party, Mansfield’s depicts a young woman, Laura Sherridan, as she struggles through confusion, enlightenment, and the complication of class distinctions on her path to adulthood. Both James Joyce and Katherine Mansfield expertly use the literary elements of characterization to illustrate the journey of self-discovery while both main characters recognize that reality is not what they previously conceptualized it as.
The narrator in “Araby” is a young man who lives in an uninteresting area and dreary house in Dublin. The only seemingly exciting thing about the boy’s existence is the sister of his friend Mangum that he is hopelessly in love with; “…her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood.” (Joyce 2279) In an attempt to impress her and bring some color into his own gray life, he impulsively lies to her that he is planning on attending a bazaar called Arab. He also promises the gi...
Araby is about escaping into the world of fantasy. The narrator is infatuated with his friend's sister; he hides in the shadows, peering secluded from a distance trying to spy her "brown figure"(Joyce 38). She is the light in his fantasy, someone who will lift him out of darkness. I see many parallels to my life as a boy growing up in the inner city of Jersey City. We looked for escape also, a trip uptown to Lincoln Park, or take a train ride to New York City where we would gaze at the beauties on 7th Ave.
Ibrahim, Z., (2009). What are the Advantages of Alternative Medicine? Health & Fitness. Retrieved: February 1, 2011, from: http://www.submityourarticle.com/articles/Zahari-Ibrahim-5465/advantages-of-alternative-medicine-58182.php
Joyce surrounds the young protagonist with the darkest imagery as develops the exposition of the story. For instance, North Richmond Street, where the boy lives is “blind,” and “the short days of winter” darkened the streets where he and the other neighbor boys play making the houses seem “somber” (Joyce 741). However, all is not dark in the lad’s life, well not at first. Joyce’s use of light in association with Mangan’s sister, creates a sense of hope for this boy who is covered in darkness. In fact, whenever she appears she is bathed in light. For example, Joyce first describes her “waiting” for the boys, “her figure defined by the light” (741), and later while protagonist speaks with her about Araby, he notices that “the light from the lamp opposite [the] door caught the white curve of her neck; lit up her hair that rested there and, falling, lit up the hand upon the railing” (Joyce 742); she truly is the light of his life. In addition, Joyce could be hinting at her innocence and purity present in