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Examples Of Situational Irony In Araby

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Growing up with an older brother was inevitable to be following his footsteps. When he grew up amongst his friends to find women and cars endearing, I too became one similar to him and lost my innocence. As the moral of Araby concludes that somethings are not always what they hoped to be, the same moral applies for the introduction of a lost innocence. A lost innocence, in my perspective, is the awakening of reality. That being said, in the story Araby, the narrator develops an affection for a religious girl that becomes an obsession. The religious girl discusses with the narrator that she cannot attend an event due to religious reasons. The narrator then grows an idea that he must obtain a valuable object at the event for the girl, hoping …show more content…

The loss of the narrator’s innocence is resulted here because of the seller’s attitude towards him, which portrays she thinks less of him, resulting in him visualizing the reality of his expectations. Another form of situational irony found in the story is the interaction with the uncle of the narrator. The narrator quotes, “At nine o’clock I heard my uncle’s latchkey in the halldoor . . . My uncle said he was very sorry he had forgotten.” (Joyce 245). From the quote, the narrator’s uncle has forgotten about the money needed to purchase an object at the bazaar. The following scene is a form of situational irony because the narrator and the reader predicted the actions of the uncle and the effect it had on the narrator. The outcome of the uncle’s actions portrays the beginning of the narrator’s loss of innocence because he starts to examine that some events will not always meet expectations. Moreover, the author induces imagery of different types to project his argument of lost innocence. The narrator expresses “I lingered before her stall, though I knew my stay was useless, to make interest in her wares seem the more real.” (Joyce 246). Kinesthetic imagery portrayed in the quote allows the reader to recognize the loss of innocence of the narrator due to the choices the narrator makes. The narrator decides to linger around because he understands the reality of the bazaar, which interposes his lost innocence.

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