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Illusion and Reality in "Araby"
In James Joyce's short story "Araby," written in 1905, but first published in 1914 in Dubliners (Merriam Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature, p. 611) a young boy experiences his first sexual awakening, and finds himself endlessly fantasizing about "Mangan's sister," who lives in a house near his own. As Joyce describes Mangan's sister, from the boy's perspective "Her dress swung as she moved her body and the soft rope of her hair tossed from side to side." He cannot pull his image of Mangan's sister from his mind, even long enough to say his prayers. Thoughts of Mangan's sister interfere impede his concentration at school. Without understanding why, the picture inside his head of Mangan's sister, distorted or real, takes on iconic significance, substituting for reality in a way far more, in fact deliciously, exciting. However, by the end of the story, the young boy's axis of reality, which has to do, in his case, with the lives and priorities of those older than himself, pulls him back, and much-cherished hope of buying and presenting Mangan's sister with a special gift from Araby is destroyed.
The word "axis" means "a...
36). When the boy becomes fascinated with Mangan's sister, his mind wanders far from that axis, which consists of school, church, home, and the authority of others, religious, parental, and otherwise, to a place that seems to open up an entirely new world, in which imagination and fantasy are allowed free play, and hopes, wishes, and fantasies may be entertained with abandoned. It is a child's kind of straying from such an axis: the first delicious stirrings of pending adulthood, and along with it, freedom from the axis of reality that (as a child's does) grounds a child's privileges, responsibilities, and activities in the rules, expectations, demands, and wishes of others older than himself or herself. For example, the heavy dominance and seriousness of Irish Catholicism is nearly palpable throughout the story. As Joyce states: "The former tenant of our house, a priest, had died in the back drawing-room. As one critic points out, however:
In some ways "Araby" has nothing to say to us. Ours is not a culture of convent schools and sexual repression, and we no longer rely upon…
Works Cited
"Axis." Webster's New American Dictionary. New York: Merriam Webster,
1995.
"Joyce." Merriam Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature. Springfield,
Massachusetts: Merriam Webster, 1995. 611.
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When the day of the bazaar finally arrives the narrator begins experiencing one disappointment after another, which slowly chip away at his idealistic notions towards romance. First, he is unable to spy on his beloved from his window like he always used to. Second, he starts having uneasy feelings about the day as he walks to school that morning. Third, his uncle's late return home significantly delays him from attending
I chafed against the work of school." These "follies" are also seen by the boy's school master as "idleness," which juxtaposes the perceived importance of the feeling for the boy with the more rational views of outsiders. This rational view is also represented by the boy's uncle, who is reminded more than once that the boy plans to go to the bazaar. The climax of the story occurs with the boy's
"I had never spoken to her," he admits (30). When finally he does he is at a loss for words. "When she addressed the first words to me I was so confused that I did not know what to answer," (31). He communicates better in a fantasy world, just as he sees better in his fantasy world: "Her name sprang to my lips at moments in strange prayers and
Importance of the setting in understanding the story A successful story needs to have several components linked together in order to help the reader build up the story in their minds. The setting of a story is one of the powerful elements that are often used as a link of symbolism between the character and his life. It sets the mood for the story as well as depicts the mental state
John Updike's "A&P" and James Joyce's "Araby" are very alike. The theme of the two stories centers on a young men who are concerned over thinking out the dissimilarity between reality and the imaginations of romance that dance in their heads. They also examine their mistaken thoughts on their respective world, the girls they encounter, and most importantly, themselves. One of the main comparable aspects of the two stories is
Araby," by James Joyce, "The Aeneid," by Virgil, and "Candide," by Voltaire. Specifically, it will look at love as a common theme in literature, but more often than not, it does not live up to the romantic ideal of love. Various authors employ this emotion as a theme that allows them to demonstrate some truth about the human condition that lies outside of the terrain of love. ARABY" The third story