Dubliners Research Paper

1353 Words3 Pages

Paper
James Joyce’s “Dubliners” is a collection of short stories revolving around the themes of epiphanies and emotional paralysis afflicted upon the main characters. Four of these stories of which were “Araby,” ”The Dead,” ”Eveline” and ”Clay” and after reading them I’ve noticed that with these four in particular the epiphanies tend to focus on the characters having to question their love in regards to what the love they have (or believe they have) means to them. By the end I hope you will also see how the epiphanies presented are related to each other.
Araby
Araby is a story about a boy who falls in love with an older girl in his neighborhood and in an attempt to win her heart he goes to a bazaar named Araby to buy something for her as he …show more content…

Her story ends with preparation to go with Frank and live like a sailor taken out into the blue abyss from which at the last moment she came upon an epiphany that she was only looking for a way out of the life she has known (being abused by her father) for a while and realizes that she is needed there (to take care of the children that she would be leaving behind). As I mentioned in my thesis I will be focusing on how the epiphanies are related through love and how they must question what it means to them ‘to love’ and when you think about how Eveline felt soon before her departure you can see how this falls into place. On the last page of the story “Eveline hears a street organ and thinks it strange ‘that it should come that very night to remind her of the promise to her mother, her promise to keep the home together as long as she could.’”(Clive Hart) she had remembered the last night her mother was alive and spontaneously she thought that she had to escape and Frank would take her to the sea “…such as the sea as a symbol of freedom”(James Joyce) and be her savior but when it’s time for her to get on the boat she gets her epiphany. Eveline realizes that she didn’t really love Frank but instead loved the idea of getting away from her abusive relation with her father as she looks on at Frank with loveless

Show More
Related

  • Similarities Between Araby And A & P

    545 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this essay I will discuss the short stories A&P by John Updike and Araby by James Joyce which share several similarities as well as distinct differences between the themes and the main characters. I will compare or contrast two or more significant literary elements from each of the stories and discuss how those elements contribute to each story’s theme.

    Read More

  • Comparison Of Personal Identity In James Joyce's 'Sucker'

    743 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

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

    874 Words  | 2 Pages

    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 meaning and insight. As such, the boy's experience is not restricted to youth's encounter with first love. Rather, it is a portrayal of a continuing problem all through life: the incompatibility of the ideal, of the dream as one wishes it to be, with the bleakness of reality. This double focus-the boy who first experiences, and the man who has not forgotten-provides for the dramatic rendering of a story of first love told by a narrator who, with his wider, adult vision, can employ the sophisticated use of irony and symbolic imagery necessary to reveal the story's meaning.

    Read More

  • Themes of Alienation and Control in James Joyce's Araby

    1851 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Loss of Innocence in Araby by James Joyce

    853 Words  | 2 Pages

    The short story “Araby” by James Joyce is told by what seems to be the first person point of view of a boy who lives just north of Dublin. As events unfold the boy struggles with dreams versus reality. From the descriptions of his street and neighbors who live close by, the reader gets an image of what the boy’s life is like. His love interest also plays an important role in his quest from boyhood to manhood. The final trip to the bazaar is what pushes him over the edge into a foreshadowed realization. The reader gets the impression that the narrator is the boy looking back on his epiphany as a matured man. The narrator of “Araby” looses his innocence because of the place he lives, his love interest, and his trip to the bazaar.

    Read More

  • Importance of Setting in Eveline of James Joyce's Dubliners

    542 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is extremely hard for her to make the decision of whether or not to go with Frank because she only knows one way. Eveline understands that she has "a hard life,"(513) and she has the chance to go to a place where "it would not be like that" (513). However, it scares Eveline to change her setting. After thinking about leaving she did not find her present setting as "wholly undesirable" (513) as she previously did. The latter part of "Eveline" is set by the sea. This sea is a symbol of rejuvenation for Eveline. Much like in "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin, the sea is a way to escape life. "All the seas of the world tumble around her heart," (515) and Eveline is unable to flee from her life to go away with Frank. Eveline's mind has been subconsciencly designed by her environment, and she can't imagine living life any other way. Eveline is so confused and doesn't know what is holding her back, but something is.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of Epiphany In Araby By James Joyce

    1298 Words  | 3 Pages

    The visual and emblematic details established throughout the story are highly concentrated, with Araby culminating, largely, in the epiphany of the young unnamed narrator. To Joyce, an epiphany occurs at the instant when the essence of a character is revealed, when all the forces that endure and influence his life converge, and when we can, in that moment, comprehend and appreciate him. As follows, Araby is a story of an epiphany that is centered on a principal deception or failure, a fundamental imperfection that results in an ultimate realization of life, spirit, and disillusionment. The significance is exposed in the boy’s intellectual and emotional journey from first love to first dejection,

    Read More

  • The Motivation for Anguish

    872 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...om Joyce’s childhood. The young boy may have felt anguish, but the adult that looks back at himself sees someone who desires romance and happiness. Joyce explains “Araby” as the life of a young boy who has dreams and high expectations of the world, but instead the young boy gets a bitter taste of reality.

    Read More

  • James Joyce's Use Of Literary Devices Used In Araby

    1142 Words  | 3 Pages

    The short story “Araby” written by James Joyce tells the story of an unnamed boy who lives on North Richmond Street. The short story starts off by giving the reader a brief overview about the boy's life and other relevant background information. It is soon expressed that the boy has a very intense infatuation with his friends Mangan’s sister. The story goes on to explain his interaction with this girl which leads him to attend an event later that week. By James Joyce’s use of literary devices, the short story is able to progress and give the reader an accurate insight into this young boy's life and experiences.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Araby And The Dead By James Joyce

    1033 Words  | 3 Pages

    James Joyce began his writing career in 1914 with a series of realistic stories published in a collection called The Dubliners. These short literary pieces are a glimpse into the ‘paralysis’ that those who lived in the turn of the century Ireland and its capital experienced at various points in life (Greenblatt, 2277). Two of the selections, “Araby” and “The Dead” are examples of Joyce’s ability to tell a story with precise details while remaining a detached third person narrator. “Araby” is centered on the main character experiencing an epiphany while “The Dead” is Joyce’s experiment with trying to remain objective. One might assume Joyce had trouble with objectivity when it concerned the setting of Ireland because Dublin would prove to be his only topic. According the editors of the Norton Anthology of Literature, “No writer has ever been more soaked in Dublin, its atmosphere, its history, its topography. He devised ways of expanding his account of the Irish capital, however, so that they became microcosms of human history, geography, and experience.” (Greenblatt, 2277) In both “Araby” and “The Dead” the climax reveals an epiphany of sorts that the main characters experience and each realize his actual position in life and its ultimate permanency.

    Read More

  • Araby: A Lesson in Adolescence

    1166 Words  | 3 Pages

    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 tells the story in retrospect. As such, the boy's experience is not restricted to youth's encounter with first love. Rather, it is a portrayal of a continuing problem all through life: the incompatibility of the ideal, of the dream as one wishes it to be, with the bleakness of reality. This double focus-the boy who first experiences, and the man who has not forgotten provides for the rendering of a story of first love told by a narrator who, with his wider, adult vision, can employ the sophisticated use of irony and symbolic imagery necessary to reveal the story's meaning. The story opens with a description of North Richmond Street, a "blind," "cold ... .. silent" (275)street where the houses "gazed at one an-other with brown imperturbable faces.".(275) The former tenant, a priest, died in the back room of the house, and his legacy-several old yellowed books, which the boy enjoys leafing through because they are old, and a bicycle pump rusting in the back yard-become symbols of the intellectual and religious vitality of the past. Every morning before school the boy lies on the floor in the front parlor peeking out through a crack in the blind of the door, watching and waiting for the girl next door to emerge from her house and walk to school. He is shy and still boyish.

    Read More

  • Isolation In Eveline

    1034 Words  | 3 Pages

    She wants to go with him and move on because she wants to be saved and wants to have life because the house she lives in now doesn’t have life. If Eveline goes with Frank “People would treat her with respect then” (Joyce). She would have a better life with Frank and would be treated better, but she is too scared to leave her old life behind even if it is worse. At the end of the story she can’t leave her family behind and won’t get on the boat with Frank to leave her other life behind. “Her hands clutched the iron in frenzy” (Joyce), “its protagonist literally left frozen at the point of her escape, unable to board the ship that promises to carry her out of the city” (Latham 123).

    Read More

  • The Effects Of Epiphany In James Joyce's Dubliners

    1188 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many people are familiar with the “light bulb moment”- the moment when one suddenly understands and everything becomes clearer. From a more technical and literary standpoint, that moment could be referred to as an epiphany. James Joyce, in his manuscript of Stephen Hero, defines an epiphany as “a sudden spiritual manifestation.” In addition, Joyce used epiphanies liberally throughout his writing of Dubliners. The epiphanies, which can be found in each short story, they are essential in shaping Joyce’s stories. Because epiphanies were used so often throughout Dubliners, their effects on the protagonists can be compared and contrasted between stories. One such is example is “The Dead” and “A Painful Case.” Though the epiphanies experienced

    Read More

  • Eveline

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    When Eveline is older, she meets a young man named Frank and they begin to like each other and begin a semblance of falling in love. Frank asks her to marry him and move with him to Beunos Ayres, Argentina, before they can start their life. Eveline changes her mind and decides to stay in Dublin with her father. Eveline's sense of duty is the greatest factor behind her decision to stay with her father. When Eveline's mother is on her deathbed, she asks Eveline to promise her something that creates a sense of duty that Eveline can never escape.

    Read More

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

    844 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Dubliners Research Paper

Open Document