Literary Analysis Using James Joyces' Araby - Research Paper Example

? This paper talks about James Joyce and his ideal work Araby. An adolescent boy in the point of view of the first person narrates the story. The boy could not identify himself. While talking about the narrator, Joyce is indirectly representing the author. This can be identified through reading works of Joyce. James Joyce was an Irish who was born in Dublin, Ireland on February 2, 1882. His publication by the name of ‘Portrait of the Artist’ gained him fame in the year 1916. He became a literary celebrity after he perfected his stream of- consciousness with Ulysses. Landmark legal decisions were made on obscenity through the explicit content, which he presented through his prose. He suffered eye ailments all his life. In 1941, he died. Joyce was considered as one of the most revered writers of the 20th century. Ulysses is one of his landmark book. It is hailed as one of the finest novels ever written (Joyce, n.p, n.d). Araby is a short story that was published in the 1914 in Dubliners, which is a collection of Joyce’s stories. It is a short story which talks about an adolescent boy who is emerging into the harsh realities of life in his country from boyhood. This story is a personal experience of Joyce while growing up in Dublin in the nineteenth century. In 1984, Ireland was suffering resistance under British rule. Joyce framed the story based on his own experience during these times. The fictional narrator of Araby lived on North Richmond Street (No 17). This was in the central part of the city. The background of the narrator reflects to that of James Joyce. He like the fictional narrator lived there. During those times, Joyce was going through the period of self-discovery. The narrator of Araby was in the same state. However, Joyce was not an orphan like the narrator of the story. Joyce presented Dublin as a bleak city that is struggling against oppressive forces, in Araby and other stories of Dubliners. In the South of Dublin, the climatic scenes take place, whereas the winter scenes took place in the nearby lanes of North Richmond Street (Araby, n.p, n.d). The imagery of light and darkness has been used which reinforces the theme and the characters. The story tells its readers how much an ordinary man starts expecting more than the ordinary reality can provide. This often results in disappointment and disillusionment. The author to explain the gloomy town of Araby wherein the boy lives uses dark and obscure references. Such references are used to highlight the town of Araby. Inorder to create a mood and atmosphere, the author uses dark and gloomy references. While talking about Mangan’s sister, the setting is changed and bright light references are used. the characterization of the boy as the narrator and his point of view depicts is explained through the setting. Throughout the story, darkness has been used as a prevailing theme. The story starts with dusk and continues through the evening in winters of Araby, Ireland. Such a gloomy setting is selected to be the home of the boy who has an infatuation over the sister of the neighbor. The young boy is naive who leads a dull and boring life. The boy’s life is explained through using darkness as a tool to make the reality more vivid. In order to show a life of fairy tales and the world of illusions and dreams, bright light is used. Bright light is used specifically when Mangan’s sister is being discussed. Imagining that he would bring back something for her from the bazaar, the protagonist falls in love with the neighbor’s sister. It is mostly to create a joyful atmosphere and to give Mangan’s sister a heavenly presence that the author has chosen to use the bright light (Araby, n.p, n.d). James wrote Araby as something the readers can relate to. It varies from the familiarity of everyday drudgery with consequences which are frustrating, to the allure of new love and distant places. Mangan’s sister embodies the mingling. This is because of her being a part of the familiar surroundings of the exotic promise of the bazaar and the narrator street’s familiar surroundings. With new feelings of joy and elation, Mangan;s sister intoxicates the narrator. Despite of the dullness of the school work, his uncle getting late and the bare carriage of Dublin, his love for Mangan’s sister prevailed. His desires were thwarted and his plans undermined by the mundane realities, although he promised her to buy a gift from the bazaar. The narrator did not enter the bazaar to encounter the freedom of the enchanting east, but to encounter the flowered teacups and the English accents. With the passage of time, when the bazaar shuts down, he realizes that Mangan’s sister will disappoint him and fail his expectations. He also realizes that his desire for her is merely a dream and a vain wish for such a drastic change. The story did not end on a positive note but on a moment of epiphany. This was because of the narrator’s change of heart. The narrator gives us without defending his love. He failed to realize that love is not expressed by giving gifts, but by expressing his feelings and reaffirming it. When he entered the bazaar and saw the fading lights, he thought maybe his love for Mangan’s sister is just a mere fantasy, and that his infatuation was simply misguided like his fantasies about the bazaar. A story of love and youthful magic turned that of defeat and tragedy( Dubliners, n.p n.d). James Joyce has taken an approach where it is the character on which the author concentrates at rather than the plot. This is done in order to reveal the ironies which are inherent in self deception. From one aspect, the story revolved around the boy’s quest for the ideal. The quest was turned down, however it resulted in inner awareness and the first step into manhood. On the other hand, the story is revolves around the experience of a grown man who has gone through an intense period of meaning and insight. Precisely, it is not about the unfound love. But, it is about the fact that an ideal is hard to achieve, because life is tough and the realities of life bleak. The author uses the realm of irony in this story, it is narrated by a boy whose first love was rendered and by a man who is unable to forget his unfound love. In the beginning of the story it was clearly explained how the boy grew up in the backwash of a dying city. It is through the usage of symbolic figures that the narrator is seen as an individual who is sensitive to the fact that the vitality of his city has faded. In addition, the echoes of romance has faded and the concerns of God and fellow men are mere symbols. Later in the story the man recalls how his living dream was lost as a possibility. However, we also see that with the passage of time, it is realized that the intensity to live the dream increases throughout adulthood. At the end of the story the characterization is brilliant. It has not been done as perfectly in any other part of the story. The author sketches the protagonist as two different figures. One is that of a boy who through loss of innocence initiated as a boy. The other one is a man who understands the difference between the harsh reality of life and the beautiful and innocent world of imagination (Donschikowski, 2006, 14-16). Works Cited Donschikowski. "Literary Analysis Using James Joyces' Araby." (2006): 14-16. Print. "Dubliners." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 19 June 2012. . "James Joyce Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 19 June 2012. . "James Joyce's Araby - Setting and Theme in Araby :: Joyce Dubliners Araby Essays." James Joyce's Araby - Setting and Theme in Araby :: Joyce Dubliners Araby Essays. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 June 2012. . "James Joyce's "Araby": A Study Guide." James Joyce's "Araby": A Study Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 June 2012. . Read More