Futility and Despair in James Joyce's "Araby"

Introduction: A World Saturated with Sadness

A definite sadness rings throughout the vast majority of passages in James Joyce's "Araby," which details the romantic feelings of a young narrator for the sister of one of his friends. The futility facing the narrator, his family, his friends, their acquaintances — and even the desired girl herself — is distinctly palpable and hints at an undesirable existence stretching into the days to come. The narrator places all of his aspirations and passion for life in the hopes inspired by this young woman, as a means of escaping the surrounding banality, even though any real relationship with her exists only in his mind. Yet Joyce consistently informs the reader, through means both overt and subtle, that to aspire toward happiness — toward a life of fulfillment and realized passion — is to ask too much for the narrator and those like him. They are instead fated for mediocrity, dinginess, and stubborn complacency.

Mangan's Sister and the Futility of Desire

None of the characters in "Araby" are able to achieve the things they actually want, not even Mangan's sister, the young woman whom the narrator idolizes. She is devastatingly beautiful, with a grace and demeanor befitting a greatly sought-after woman, yet she cannot indulge in even the simplest pleasures — such as attending a social event, which the following quotation alludes to: "It would be a splendid bazaar; she said she would love to go. 'And why can't you?' I asked… She could not go, she said, because there would be a retreat that week in her convent" (Joyce).

This passage is important because it reveals two distinct disappointments for Mangan's sister. On one hand, it demonstrates that she cannot fulfill a relatively simple desire to attend a bazaar, which she views as "splendid" and genuinely wishes to see. Yet the more significant disappointment lies in the reason she cannot attend: her convent has a scheduling conflict that weekend. The implications are powerful. As beautiful and desirable as Mangan's sister is, she is promised a life of solitude and isolation from men by becoming a nun. This is a loss for her, as her chosen occupation will prevent her from engaging in many of life's pleasures — and it is equally a loss for the narrator, because it means that no matter what he does, he will never be able to actualize his feelings for her.

The Narrator's Poverty and Shattered Illusions

There are numerous indications that the narrator is destined for a life of mediocrity in which his lofty feelings of passion will produce not happiness upon their achievement, but despair at his inability to realize his goals. Chief among these is the fact that he cannot afford a gift for Mangan's sister at the bazaar. Were he capable of purchasing her a souvenir — perhaps the "porcelain vases" or "flowered tea-sets" (Joyce) he considers — such a gesture would have symbolized some means of demonstrating his affection, as well as his worth, to Mangan's sister. Yet his funds are woefully insufficient for the endeavor, which serves as a reminder that his entire crush is only a reminder of what he cannot have.

The following quotation, in which he leaves the bazaar empty-handed, emphasizes how egregiously the narrator had deluded himself about his perceived romance: "Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger" (Joyce). The "anger" the narrator experiences is an understandable reaction to his lack of money and his inability to produce a token of affection for Mangan's sister. What is far more meaningful, however, is the "anguish" he feels — demonstrative of his despair in knowing that he cannot afford presents for her, that he will never consummate his feelings, and that he is instead headed for a life of poverty, dinginess, and mediocrity.

Conclusion: No Escape from Mediocrity

All of these examples — Mangan's sister joining a convent and thereby being barred from pleasurable activities, the narrator being too poor to buy her a souvenir from the bazaar, and the narrator's family living a life of hard work and little pleasure — allude to the despair and disappointment that virtually all of the characters in "Araby" endure and are fated to continue enduring. The life they lead, and that which they will more than likely continue to lead, is extremely pedestrian, characteristically unromantic, and rife with dinginess and mediocrity. Joyce offers no hope for any of the characters to escape such an existence — least of all for the narrator's unfulfilled crush on Mangan's sister.

Works Cited

Joyce, James. "Araby." The Eserver Collection. 1914. Web.