Araby Religion

James Joyce, an Irish writer, is regarded as one of the most influential and important authors of the 20th century. Joyce was raised as a Catholic and attended a boarding school, Clongowes, run by Jesuits priests. Unfortunately, Joyce withdrew from school because of family debt. Joyce kept up his studies and was eventually able to attend University College in Dublin, also operated by Jesuits. By the time Joyce was in college he had had renounced Catholicism, mainly because of its unbending rules and strict enforcement of them. In many of his writing Joyce depicts the lives of Dubliners and subtly show religion as a big part of their lives. In his short story, “Araby,” Joyce depicts the values, aspirations, and habits of Irish Catholic Church.

“Araby,” is a short story about a young boy who is infatuated with a girl known only as Mangan’s sister. Mangan’s sister asks the narrator to go

Just like Joyce, the narrator attends a Catholic school. During the time period of the story, the people of Ireland are immersed within the Catholic religion. It is unclear how strongly the narrator’s religious beliefs are, however Catholic values play a large role in his upbringing. The narrator often explains things through Catholic ideas and imagery. For example, the narrator over and over again thinks about and describes his crush, Mangan’s sister, in religious terms. During the story, he compares her to a “chalice” that he is protecting from a “throng of foes,” a reference that seems to compare her to the Holy Grail. Additionally, throughout the story the narrator literally seems to worship her: “Her name sprang to my lips at moments in strange prayers and praises which I myself did not understand.” The fact that the narrator does not understand his “prayers and praises” to Mangan’s sister implies that he is not idolizing her on purpose. Instead, the narrator’s idolization seems to be a product of his catholic