Araby By James Joyce

James Joyce’s short fiction, “Araby”, speaks of the loss of innocence when one enters adulthood. The narrator of “Araby” reflects back to his childhood and the defining moment when he reached clarity on the world he stood before. The young boy, living in a world lifeless and religious influence, becomes consumed with the lust of a neighbouring girl. The girl, Mangan, is symbolically the narrator’s childhood obsession with growing up. As she resembles the desire to become an adult, the Araby is the enchanted vision of adulthood. By the end of the short story, he realizes the bareness of everyday life. In fact, the disappointment that is Araby awakens the boy to the fact that his immature dreams have blinded him to the cold and stagnant

In the short story “Araby”, James Joyce uses several tones to create and add depth to the experiences he and his character face. Tones such as gloomy and pessimistic; excited and hopeful; and disillusioned and somber are all used to convey and assist in the portrayal of the author’s experiences.

I will be writing my essay on innocence and experience to show how it relates to “Araby” by James Joyce. While reading the story, and what I’ve understood is that it’s a very depressing story about a young boy that is between 12 to 17 years of age who had his first experience in feeling loved and perhaps having a life alone. Later on in the story towards the end the experience will be very sad as we talk about it.

In the short story “Araby” by James Joyce, the author depicts a series of short events in a young boy’s life. All through the passage Joyce uses different forms of figurative language, most of which includes imagery. JOYCE’S USE OF IMAGERY AND OTHER RHETORICAL DEVICES TO ALTER HOW THE READER PERCEIVES THE EVENTS IN NARRATOR'S LIFE.

The narrator uses very strong symbolism to set the mood of the story in which the images and descriptions are shaped by his impression of both his neighborhood and himself. In Joyce’s story, the narrator states “An uninhabited house of two stories stood at the blind end, detached from its neighbors in a square ground” (p 676). The narrator used the words “blind”, “isolated”, and “detached” (p 676) to describe his residence and

He gives us a short, yet detailed, description of the street where the boy grew up, which through his use of imagery, helps establish the mood. Joyce writes, “North Richmond Street, being blind was a quiet street” (212). His use of the word blind in this sentence is not to be taken literally but instead refers to the fact that North Richmond is a dead-end street. From the inclusion of this little piece of information, one could derive deeper meaning. The dead-end street symbolizes that this street and its inhabitants are figuratively dead and are condemned to forever remain confined to this little corner of the world, complacent with their station in life. Joyce further alludes to this in his description of the houses on the block that, “conscious of the decent lives within them gazed at one another with brown imperturbable faces” (213). The author depicts the boy and his friends as playing in “dark muddy lanes behind the houses” and describes the “dark dripping gardens” and “dark odorous stables” through which they ran (Joyce 213). Not even the street lights that, “lifted their feeble lanterns” could bring light into the long, dark nights of the Dublin winter (213). The extensive use of this dark imagery by the author serves to convey the boy’s overall sense of gloom and unhappiness within his

Joyce, like many writers, used his literary works as tools to broadcast different ideas, themes, and messages that mirrored his life and beliefs. “Araby” presents a theme that depicts a loss of innocence

This contrast is present throughout the short story. Joyce uses setting, tone, and epiphany to depict how the narrator’s dreams are not connected to the reality of his every day life. The story begins with the narrator describing the environment in which he lives to show how mundane, and routine his daily life is. The narrator lives on the “blind” North Richmond Street which is secluded and desolate.

James Joyce's story Araby is an affection story of a kid living in North Richmond Street. He goes gaga for his companion Mangan's sister. In any case, he manufactures all his optimistic dream around her quiet picture which is his spine in a generally dull every day life. His force for her develops and gets to be bound with an inactive sexual charge. At long last the two meet and she alludes to an oriental reasonable called Araby where she would have gotten a kick out of the chance to go yet can't go as their school fest has conflicted with its dates. She doesn't generally teach him to go to the spot yet the kid's whole force now moves to Araby as that one authoritative word talked by her. It turns into her. He conceptualizes it as a dream place

As we age into adult life we are faced with decisions and situations where we are forced to think for ourselves and suffer through the consequences of those decisions. Through those bad decisions and terrible ideas we shape ourselves into the adult we are creating ourselves to be. “A&P” by John Updike and “Araby” by James Joyce both introduce two young protagonist who both share in blinded adoration for young women. Both young men attempts to woo the young woman by proving their nobility. Both efforts go completely unnoticed by both girls and both young men are left alone dealing the aftermath of their failed nobility, which changes the way they view themselves.

“Araby” is chock full of interesting imagery. This imagery points us towards outstanding themes. Along with imagery, diction can point us in a more concise direction by cuing us in on the year and/or the location of the piece. Knowing these things can help us, as readers, better understand the words James Joyce chooses and helps us get a firmer grasp in the imagery.

Everyone makes the befuddling change from childhood into adolescence. Some people remember making this change more clearly than others, but every person makes the journey. Most can still conjure up at least some reminiscences of the confusing emotions and thoughts that are engendered during this period in life. James Joyce clearly depicts a child’s transformation from childhood into adolescence through the nameless narrator in his short story Araby. Joyce uses imagery to emphasize the themes of loneliness and escape in the story.

As you grow old you witness many different types of people; those who share traits with you and those who are total opposites. “Araby”, by author James Joyce portrays the main character, the narrator, as an adventurous, young man that lives with his Uncle and Aunt. He attends a catholic school with his best friend Managan, that lives just down the street from him. In the story, the narrator could be contrasted to the Uncle in a way that he was more matured than him. Proof of this statement is when he quoted “If my Uncle was seen turning the corner we hid in the shadow until we had seen him safely housed.” (Joyce, 1914); this shows the control he had over the family. This quote also refers to the dark imagery used within the text, it illustrates the image that the Uncle could have been abusive, but there was no specific evidence to prove it. His Uncle’s actions also add to the coming of age theme, being that when the narrator grows up, he will not take the path his Uncle had taken.

The short story “Araby”,by James Joyce is told using first person point of view by the protagonist, a young boy whose name is never metioned through out the story. The narrator is a lonely boy who lives in a death end stress, and in a house that the former tenant, a priest had died. He lives with his uncle and aunty. Literally, the narrator is trapped because every description of the neighborhood seems to be isolation and the neighborhood can also be seen as a symbol of hopelessness. The narrator is in love with his friend’s sister, but it is not love rather obsession. He confuses Love with obsession. All his feelings, actions, thoughts and ideas shows he is merely obsessed not in love. The darkness and Love in the story leads the narrator to his epiphany; he realizes he is not in love with her and she is also not in love him too. Everything he feels for her is infatuation.

Joyce injects a sense of unrealized bleakness for the protagonist by the imagery that he puts forth. “North Richmond street, being blind was a quiet street except for the hour…” (Joyce 200), immediately sets the atmosphere as one that is almost desolate, with iron gray clouds heavy with grief for the people below. The with the ending phrase,” except for the hour” (Joyce 200), reinforces this feeling. Only one hour, where life and movement grace this street but fleeting, like freshly minted snowflake landing on a cheek flushed with embarrassment. Much like a crepuscular ray, pushing through clouds, when gone, do the clouds not seem darker. The path to adult hood for Araby rests under these skies and winds thorough a morass of self-truth and a sense of predestined caste.