It has been such a joy reading “The Norton Introduction to Literature” by Kelly J. Mays. Of all the stories that I was assigned to read, one story in particular stood out to me because of how the author used words to create a vivid image in my mind. The story I’m talking about is “Araby” by James Joyce. James Joyce does a great job creating vivid images in the readers mind and creates a theme that most of us can relate. In this paper I will be discussing five scholarly peer reviewed journals that also discusses the use of image and theme that James Joyce created in his short story “Araby”. Before I start diving into discussing these five scholarly peer review journals, I would like to just write a little bit about “Araby” by James Joyce. James Joyce is an Irish writer, mostly known for modernist writing and his short story “Araby” is one of fifteen short stories from his first book that was published called “Dubliners”. Lastly, “Araby” is the third story in Dubliners. Now I will be transitioning to discussing the scholarly peer review journals. In the article, “Blind streets and seeing houses: Araby's dim glass revisited” by Margot Norris describes James Joyce's "Araby" as a piece of work that uses conspicuous poetic language that performatively offers the beauty of its art as compensation to the thematized frustrations of the story (304). In “Araby”, the theme was clearly seen in the sentence when James Joyce said "Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity,”. Margot Norris also agrees that the theme was found in the sentence that I just mentioned as she also points it out in her article. For example, in one passage, Margot Norris writes: "Gazing up into the darkness I saw mys... ... middle of paper ... ... In Teaching Short Fiction 9.2 (2009): 102-108. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 2 Apr. 2014. Hunter, Cheryl. "The Coming Of Age Archetype In James Joyce's "Araby.." Eureka Studies In Teaching Short Fiction 7.2 (2007): 102-104. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. Norris, Margot. "Blind Streets And Seeing Houses: Araby's Dim Glass Revisited." Studies In Short Fiction 32.3 (1995): 309. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 Apr. 2014. Snart, Jason. "In Aid Of Teaching James Joyce's "Araby." Eureka Studies In Teaching Short Fiction 9.2 (2009): 89-101. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 5 Mar. 2014. Wells, Walter. "John Updike's 'A & P': A Return Visit to Araby." Studies in Short Fiction 30.2 (Spring 1993): 127-133. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Anna J. Sheets. Vol. 27. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998. Literature Resource Center. Web. 5 Mar. 2014.
Source #3: Kennedy, X.J., and Dana Gioia. Literature An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 9th. New York: Pearson Longman, 2005.
Wells, Walter. "John Updike's 'A & P': a return visit to Araby.," Studies in Short Fiction, vol. 30, (1993) : Spring, pp. 127(7).
"Unit 2: Reading & Writing About Short Fiction." ENGL200: Composition and Literature. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. 49-219. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
Consequently, Pete reverts to his mistreatment of his cousin, causing their relationship to deteriorate. On the other hand, James Joyce’s short story “Araby,” is about a young Catholic boy who becomes infatuated with a girl living across the street. When the young girl mentions her desire to attend a certain bazaar called Araby, he sees this as an opportunity to prove his love; by attending the bazaar himself and bringing her back a gift. Araby to the narrator represents excitement and a chance to prove his love, however, it fills neither of these expectations and instead the boy finds himself in utter disillusionment and despair. Similarly, both “Araby” and “Sucker” are narrated by a mature man reflecting on, how as a child he transitioned to adulthood. Both Joyce and McCullers portray a confused adolescent who struggles to discover their identity as they assimilate into the adult world. The adolescent is incapable of having an adult relationship yet desires one, idolizes others, and completes their transition to adulthood through an epiphany. The aforementioned conflicts are found in the adolescents of both
Although Rivka Galchen’s “Wild Berry Blue” and James Joyce’s “Araby” have some differences, there even more similarities. The narrators, their journeys, and their conclusions at the end of their journeys are analogous. Both attempt to win over the object of their affection through a gift, and yet thorough the purchase of that gift they realize their folly in love. As Joyce wrote “Araby” in 1914, yet Galchen did not write “Wild Berry Blue” until nearly 100 years later, Galchen may have written “Wild Berry Blue” as a modern retelling of Joyce’s classic short story.
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.
Kennedy, X.J. and Dana Gioia, eds. Literature: An Introduction to Fictions, Poetry and Drama. 9th ed. New York, Pearson, 2005.
James Joyce explores ideas of youth, alienation, adulthood, transformation, and disillusionment within his work, “Araby.” In this narrative, an unnamed narrator anguishes over his infatuation with Mangan’s sister. “Araby” explains how this simple love sends the storyteller into the harsh and real adult world. During the quest for a girl, James Joyce uses the journey of the narrator to explore ideas of sight, revelation, coming of age, and change.
James Joyce's use of religious imagery and religious symbols in "Araby" is compelling. That the story is concerned somehow with religion is obvious, but the particulars are vague, and its message becomes all the more interesting when Joyce begins to mingle romantic attraction with divine love. "Araby" is a story about both wordly love and religious devotion, and its weird mix of symbols and images details the relationship--sometimes peaceful, sometimes tumultuos--between the two. In this essay, I will examine a few key moments in the story and argue that Joyce's narrator is ultimately unable to resolve the differences between them.
First romantic encounters by young boys are often wrought with many different emotions and illusions. In “Araby”, a portrayal of a young boy’s experience of romantic reality, the reader is witness to the narrator’s physical, emotional and chronological journey. The emotional reactions, anguish and anger, show the importance of the events in the young boy’s life. The deprecating word vanity is significant to the story’s theme, because while anguish and anger are emotional reactions, the admission of vanity is a severe moral judgment of oneself. Anguish is regarded as the key emotion in the young boy’s childhood. In James Joyce’s “Araby”, the exaggerated anguish of the narrator seems quite pretentious given the reality of his youthful perception.
Miller, Arthur. Literature an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Kennedy, X.J., and Dana Gioia. New York: Pearson Longman, 2005.
Stone, Harry. "Araby" and the Writings of James Joyce. N.p.: n.p., n.d. EBSCO. Web. .
In the short story “Araby”, James Joyce centers the main focus of the story on the main character’s loss of innocence and mental development through his epiphany at the end of the story. “Araby” is the story of a young boy who develops a crush on his friend Mangan’s sister. Throughout the story, the narrator tries to come to terms with his obvious attraction to her. In the end, he is left distraught and feeling useless.
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.
Ehrlich, Heyward. “’Araby’ in Context: The “Splendid Bazaar”, Irish Orientalism, and James Clarence Mangan.” James Joyce Quarterly 35.2 (1998) 309-331. Web.