Thomas C. Foster's 'Every Trip Is A Quest'

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The idea of Thomas C. Foster’s chapter, “Every Trip is a Quest” is that every little journey a character takes can be as important to their character as a quest is to a knight’s. In James Joyce’s short story, “Araby”, we see a glimpse of truth in his statement. The main character of this story, I’ll call him Jack, is showing signs of a crush on his friend Mangan’s sister. Jack doesn’t understand his feelings, and unconsciously lets them control him. He attends Araby, the bazaar, because she told him that she couldn’t, to bring her something back. Then, on the day he wants to go, his uncle arrives home late, the train is delayed, he cannot find a cheaper entrance, most of the stands are closed, and the one he chooses to enter has a hostess who presents herself as rude and judgmental. So far, we have seen four of the five items that Foster states that a quest consists of; a quester, a place to go, a stated reason to go there, and a challenge, or trial. Finally, we come to Foster’s last point, “The real reason for a quest is always self-knowledge,” or the “real reason” for the quest. After Jack fails at his stated reasoning for the quest, he discovers something in himself. He comes to realize what his motivation for attending the event is the same reason for his failure and his both saddened and angered by it. 1. “He asked …show more content…

From my understanding, The Arab’s Farewell to his Steed in the beginning is a man who has just sold his horse for gold and he is happy. However, as the poem goes on, he begins to regret his decision and hopes for the horse to return. I believe that in some way “Jack’s” control and focus is relative to the horse, and the girl is relative to the gold. Throughout the story, we see Jack constantly thinking about her outside appearance, losing focus in school and attending a bazaar only because she wanted to go. He wasn’t worried about the inside. Similar, to the man who allowed his greed for gold drive him to trade something he needed and

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