Essay on Narrative Style and Character in James Joyce's Clay

No mention of a character within a story can be unintentional. Every word counts and contributes to an image of the character both directly and indirectly. In the short story “Ray” by Guy Vanderhaeghe, protagonist Ray Matthews is an example of how no word goes unused to maximize a character. Ray is an average, middle aged man, with an average wife, an average accounting job, and an average life. Nothing sticks out that is unique to him, and his inability to understand anything without others explaining it to him creates issues throughout his life. Vanderhaeghe develops Ray's character through his physical description, how others speak of him, and his social interactions to exemplify how important characterization is in a story.

The author’s use of characters allowed the reader

The unwanting desire to face reality and confront the isolation in which one is living is a struggle that both Gabriel and a little boy encounter. Jame Joyce’s works portray his characters to display both inner struggles and difficulty being socially accepted. During the party, Gabriel is anxious and nervous because he wants to uphold this reputation of a confident man. Therefore, he creates a script allowing him to have a sense control and comfort which he lacks. In Contrast, the little boy perceives himself to be self-assured and sociable when in reality these ideas are inflicted by his imagination. James Joyce’s “The Dead” and “Araby” features characters who struggle with internal emotions, revealing their alienation, separation with

In short stories, often an author can find him/herself limited on space to develop one or more of the story’s characters. A skilled author can use small vignettes to relate instances of character development that can be used to infer a relationship with the character. These passages can be a line or two, but can carry the weight of a full chapter if executed properly. Will Weaver paints an idyllic farm scene in “A Gravestone Made of Wheat,” featuring a full cast of traditional characters. Nevertheless, through glimpses into specific instances in Olaf and Inge’s respective lives together, the audience can appreciate their nontraditional nature.

In the story of, "Araby" James Joyce concentrated on three main themes that will explain the purpose of the narrative. The story unfolded on North Richmond Street, which is a street composed of two rows of houses, in a desolated neighborhood. Despite the dreary surroundings of "dark muddy lanes" and "ash pits" the boy tried to find evidence of love and beauty in his surroundings. Throughout the story, the boy went through a variety of changes that will pose as different themes of the story including alienation, transformation, and the meaning of religion (Borey).

In the short story Eleven by Sandra Cisneros, the author uses literary techniques to characterize Rachel. Sandra uses literary techniques; imagery, point-of-view, and repetition to characterize Rachel. Imagery was used to describe how Rachel feels in the text. The author explained how she felt in a way that people could imagine it. For example, when Rachel says “my whole head hurts like when you drink milk too fast.”

Stories use narrative to involve the responder in a range of experiences. Storytellers use narrative techniques to establish a setting and shape the characters personality. This is shown in Henry Lawson’s short stories the drover’s wife and the loaded dog as well as Roger hargreaves picture book little miss sunshine.

Characterization is an important component in short story writing. In the short story "Lamb to the Slaughter" written by Roald Dahl, we are introduced to Mary Maloney, a pregnant housewife who recently found out that her husband is going to leave her. Mary develops into a very complex character as the events of the short story unfold. Mary is a typical housewife, waiting on her husband hand and foot. She loves him dearly, but as the short story unfolds, we see that he does not share the same feelings. Mary, unable to handle the rejection, lashes out and kills her husband. We then see Mary’s character transform before our eyes and the once loving, dutiful housewife becomes a very devious, manipulative and cold hearted character. She manages

Joyce's modernistic view of Dublin society permeates all of his writings. The Irish experiences account for a large portion of Joyce's writings. Stephen Dedalus is sometimes Joyce's pseudonym and represents Joyce and his life in Joyce's works. Joyce plays a crucial role in the modernist movement in literature. Some of the well known innovative techniques used by Joyce are symbolism, realism and stream-of consciousness. James Joyce's writings contain autobiographical matter and display his view of life in Dublin, Ireland with the use of symbolism, realism, and stream-of consciousness.

In 'Araby' and 'Eveline' Joyce uses religious symbols to show the importance of the Catholic religion in both of the main characters' lives. Both of these stories take place in Dublin, Ireland, a place that is very strong in its belief in the Catholic religion. In 'Araby,' the imagery of the infamous 'Fall' is presented to the reader within the second paragraph to indicate its importance. The themes of religious masses can be found in 'Eveline.' The concept of the Catholic Ash Wednesday is presented throughout both 'Araby' and 'Eveline.'

James Joyce, the author of both “Araby” and “The Dead,” exploits a sense of imagery throughout both short stories. “Araby” and “The Dead” both share and differ from each other in the ways the imagery is shown. The vivid imagery in “Araby” is applied to express feelings and expressions from one character to another. The main character, an unnamed boy, has an undying admiration for Mangan’s sister. James Joyce describes the boy’s obsession with Mangan’s sister in vast imagery. “The Dead” also includes many senses of imagery, but shows kinesthetic imagery rather than vivid imagery. Kinesthetic imagery is an imagery that is portrayed through the movement and physical tension. In “The Dead,” Gabriel, the main character, dislikes the country of Ireland he lives in, so he flees. Throughout this, Gabriel describes how Ireland is boring and cold, displaying kinesthetic imagery. “The Dead” and “Araby” both include vivid imagery, kinesthetic imagery, and auditory imagery.

Recent trends in literature heavily rely on crossover between genres. Science fiction is becoming more integrated with young adult novels, and even murder mysteries are starting to incorporate romance. This crossover insures authors that they will be able to reach a broader audience, with the hopes that more people will read their books. Short stories have blended countless genres together for a long time, so it’s not surprising to see a short mystery, or a short romance. Poet James Joyce has recently become just as recognized for his prose, especially when that prose is in the form of a short story. His collection, Dubliners, includes a handful of well-recognized stories that have similar themes run throughout. One of the most famous, Araby, quickly melds between a mystery and a love story, famously ending on a cliffhanger that leads readers to interpret the finale for themselves. Throughout the brief entirety of Araby, James Joyce continues to create an aura of mystery and confusion, even going as far as to end the novel in a cliffhanger. This ambiguity allows for the reader to input their own experiences and ideas into the characters, which leads to the extensive feeling of relatability that most readers have with the little boy.

“Araby,” is a story of emotional passion carefully articulated by the author, James Joyce, to mark the end of childhood and the start of adolescence. It is told from the perspective of a young boy who is filled with lust for his friend, Mangan’s, sister. He lives in a cheerless town on a street hosting simply complacent families who own brown faced houses that stare vacantly into one another. The boy temporarily detaches himself from this gloomy atmosphere and dwells on the keeper of his affection. Only when he journeys to a festival titled Araby, does he realize that his attempt at winning the heart of Mangan’s sister has been done in an act of vanity. Joyce takes advantage of literary elements such as diction and imagery to convey an at times dreary and foolishly optimistic tone.

The short story written by James Joyce “Eveline” is about a young lady who lives her life in a promise. The promise is to her mother, who had passed away, that no matter how bad the family became, she would always keep it together. At a significant point in Eveline’s life, she was given the opportunity to leave the family and start a family of her own. Although Eveline is miserable with her life, she runs from Frank with no love in her eyes and remembers the promise that she had made. Is it that she did the right thing in keeping her promise, or was it that she wasn’t willing to leave the life she’s ever known. Though both ideas are relevant, it is strongly apparent

From the very beginning of the novel, “A Portrait of the Artist as a young man” by James Joyce we meet Stephen Dedalus. From there, we perceive the world exactly as Stephen perceives it. Through sounds, smells, and sensations we learn everything that Stephen is learning and many times in incredibly specific detail. Stephen's overly sensitive reactions and consistent use of imagery is proof to us that Stephen is "different" and views the world from an artist’s perspective. This uses of imagery and motifs by James Joyce is used to describe how Stephen is able to interpret the world around him. Furthermore, Joyce reveals this through the name of the main character.