Human Nature/Cycles of Life and Escape and Adventure

Human Nature/Cycles of Life and Escape and Adventure

Throughout the life everyone goes through cycles of events that inevitably

lead them to new directions in life. It leaves one wanting to explore a

life greater than what he or she has. Such cycles can include the creation

of new friendships, longing for love or lust, boredom or simply wanting

something more from life. In the book Dubliners by James Joyce, stories of

escape and adventure are clearly evident in "Araby" and "Eveline" and "The

Dead". Each story presents a desire to search for something greater in

life and to leave something behind. But the idea of escaping from something

or someone, or reaching a new place, is impeded by their situation

[Dublin].

In the story Araby, a young man looks to embark on a new journey that

with the hopes of pleasing his new found desire for romantic intimacy with

a particular girl. The boy's adventure lies in going to a place called

Araby to find a gift for this girl that he is trying to impress. If I go,

he says, I will bring you something" (24). Joyce uses the cycle's theme in

this story. At some point in time in life everyone finds some person that

he or she likes and hope to impress in some way. A lot of times it happens

more than once; most of the time a token of our attempt to "woo" a special

someone is through gifts, usually materials, which he clearly wants to do

in the story. Joyce clearly shows the boy's desire to adventure, through

his willingness to impress this girl by going to a bazaar to search for her

a gift and that seems to be all he can think of for quite some time; "I

hardly had any patience with the serious work of life which, now that it

stood between me and my desire, seemed to me child's play, ugly monotonous"

(24). He also has this idea about the bazaar form hearing other people talk

about it.

Another cycle the boy in Araby is going through is dealing with sexuality;

"All my senses seemed to desire to veil themselves and, feeling that I was

about to slip them, I pressed the palms of my hands together until they

trembled" (23) A bazzar is the equivalent to a modern day Mardi Gras. Joyce

uses the bazaar to symbolize, exotic delights, escape, and sensuality.

Joyce uses the description of the event to represent this mode; "In front

of me was a large building which displayed the magical name" (26). The

boy's infatuation with this girl leaves him with fantasies about the girl