The Feeling of Passion

James Joyce’s short story Araby is definitely a quest per Thomas Foster’s definition of a quest in How to Read Literature Like a Professor. There are five distinct criteria the author outlines for this definition; Araby adheres to each of them. It has someone seeking something (a quester), a place for the protagonist to go, a stated reason to go there, trials along the way, and a real reason to go there. A close examination of the Joyce’s text in the context of these parameters reveals how the elements of fiction are used by the author for the purpose of sending his protagonist on the quest.
The element of fiction pertaining to setting certainly reinforces this thesis statement. The short story is set in Ireland, presumably in Dublin because it is part of the collection entitled Dubliners. The protagonist is a young boy smitten with a young woman who talks to him about attending a bazaar. When he learns the young woman cannot attend the bazaar yet wishes she could, the protagonist tells her, “If I go,” I said, “I will bring you something” (Joyce paragraph 15). This quotation not only illustrates the most important part of the setting but also fulfills some of Foster’s requirements for a quest. The most important part of the story will take place at the bazaar, which is the setting. Also, this quote tells the reader who the seeker (or quester) is, where the place is for his quest, and a stated reason for the quest—to bring the girl something. The author uses the setting to develop the central aspects of a quest.
The fictional element of character is also used to show how this tale is a quest. Joyce uses this element to elucidate the trials along the way that make the protagonist’s journey to Araby a quest. The main trial the protagonist endures is the delay in going to the bazaar because his uncle is so late. His uncle is supposed to give him money to go. When the protagonist asks for it after waiting a long time to depart, his uncle responds “The people are in bed and after their first sleep now,” he said. I did not smile” (Joyce paragraphs 20-21) The protagonist fails to smile because attending the bazaar is not a matter of fun for him, but rather a serious quest. He still goes to the bazaar despite the fact that it is almost closed because it is so late. This fact reveals his persistence to overcome trials, which is one of the facets of Foster’s quest.
Conflict leads to the protagonist’s epiphany, proving that Araby is a quest. The main conflict is the protagonist’s poverty; he cannot afford to buy the girl anything. As the bazaar closes and he fails in his quest, he sees himself “as a creature driven and derided by vanity” (Joyce, last paragraph). This quote illustrates his real reason to go to the bazaar, for a love he feels for the girl. Because he cannot fulfill the quest it ends in vain; he also realizes he was vain for claiming to buy her something. This revelation is the story’s epiphany, which follows Foster’s quest definition in which “The real reason for a quest is always self knowledge” (Foster).
In summary, Araby is a quest as defined by Foster because it follows all of the elements of a quest outlined by Foster. Joyce uses setting, character, and conflict to form the basis of this quest.
Works Cited
Joyce, James. “Araby”. https://betterlesson.com/ 1914. Web. https://betterlesson.com/community/document/99606/araby-full-text
Foster, Thomas. How to Read Literature Like a Professor. New York: Harper Perennial. 2014. Print.