Essays on Araby

“Araby” by James Joyce and “Death in the woods” by Sherwood Anderson are short stories that are written by different writers. However, there are some common and different features that are applicable to both works. Both of the works are similar in their genre and focus on the female character, but on the other hand, they are very different from each other in themes. Short stories “Araby” and “Death in the woods” are very similar in the way they are structured. Both authors are using a male narrator for their stories. The stories are told from the first person ...

“Araby” is a short story written by James Joyce. In it the author explores a number of themes such as the difference between fantasy and reality, the process of maturing and desolation. However, one of the most significant themes of the story is the theme of love. It is mainly revealed through the narrator and his love for Mangan's sister. Throughout the story the protagonist was ready to do anything in order to please his beloved. On the example of the narrator Joyce shows how powerful love can be. Furthermore, the theme of power of love is also revealed ...

“Araby” and “A&P” are two short stories written by two well-known writers – James Joice and John Updike respectively. Despite of being created in quite different times and countries, these two stories are very similar as per their plots and characters. In both stories two young boys live quite tedious lives in their little towns. In “Araby” the boy living with his aunt and uncle describes his town as being sombre and dull with imperturbable houses and half-ruined livings. Everything in this description shows the boy’s negative attitude toward this town since a no positive word is used for ...

Analysis of James Joyce’s ‘Dubliners’

Quite a few of the short stories in the Dubliners collection of James Joyce are more of his personal memories as well as various sentiments that he holds. The Sisters, The Araby, and Evelin, are all stories which are more of a characterization of his later works. The narrators of all the stories of Joyce tend to disband into the language out of which they actually evolve. In these stories, rather than having speakers who relate themselves to the readers of the stories, the readers are actually seen being related to the language spoken by the narrators and the ...

Many people agree that the period of chivalry was probably the most interesting and fascinating. The word chivalry is mainly associated with knights and is usually described as institution of knighthood. It is also believed that chivalry presupposes such traits as courtesy, valor and generosity. It also presupposes helping the weak (such as women and children). It is clear that nowadays the concept of chivalry has become archaic. However, its examples may be still found in fiction and in modern life. For example, William Faulkner in his work “A Rose for Emily” and James Joyce in his work “Araby” ...

The classic novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald follows the life of Nick and Jay Gatsby in their pursuit to live life in the fast lane. Gatsby had eyes on Nick’s cousin, Daisy since the teenage years but lacked ways in which he would approach her. However, their future together does not come true because Daisy finds love in another man and marries him. Their marriage is on a rocky climb, and she rekindles her affair with Gatsby behind her husband’s back. All goes well till the husband knows of the secret affair and aims to end it ...

The world of literature has always intrigued one and all with the sheer quintessence of art and aesthetics. The readers from all the corners of the globe have been immersed in the aesthetic charm and affective appeal of the literary works of the literary artists who have proved their genius though their unparalleled portraiture and content that have left an immortal mark in the very innermost core of thee hearts of the avid readers. The history of literature goes on to document the works of many such stalwarts who have left the readers stirred to the core. James Joyce ...

These boys in both stories searching for self-fulfillment by avoiding cases of laziness in their day to day activities of their lives. In both stories, the boys are seen to be restless and ever in the mood to work hard and engages in various activities so as to avoid instances of laziness and procrastination or waste of time in their lives. The boys are seen participating in risky activities and adventurous places due to high levels of curiosity. These boys went to various places in order to satisfy their needs in relation to various activities of their lives. These ...

Instruction

Introduction Araby is one of the most fascinating works by James Joyce. It is about a young lad who narrates the story and who leads a blithe life in a Dublin surrounding. The boy falls in love with a friend’s sister and watches her steps every morning. Hen the boy and the girl finally spoke, she mentions about a foreign bazaar right in town. The speaker later became obsessed with the plan of buying the girl presents from the bazaar. One major theme in the Araby is disappointment. The narrator is eventually faced with realism when he visits Araby and finds ...

‘Instructor’s Name’

‘Subject’ Short stories about love Alienation and initiation are two important themes in cotemporary short fiction. Literature exists through experience, and, more often than not, the protagonist of the story represents the society we live in and the experiences of every man. Particularly, in modern fiction, the adolescent hero and his struggles to embrace adulthood has been a major theme. Most stories having an adolescent protagonist portray the coming of age or the initiation of the young hero. This essay is an attempt to compare the portrayal of the experience of initiation of two such protagonists, from the ...

In classic literature, there can be many subtle messages the reader misses. Authors are often notorious for inserting messages into their writing like this. Metaphors and other hidden meanings give the writing more weight and depth. “Araby” and “The Dead” from James Joyces’ Dubiners and Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse are no exception. They appear blatantly clear on the surface, but upon closer examination, they reveal issues of the mundane, the power hungry, and painful growth. James Joyces’ “Araby,” the narrator becomes infatuated with a young girl only known as Mangan’s sister. He watches her every day. ...

The plot of the story is as follows. The opening exposition is deceiving, because it makes it seem as if the story will be a cheerful one about a party. The party is set for Miss Morkan’s annual dance. The setting of the story begins with everyday gossip, frivolity, and the anxiety of waiting for Gabriel Conroy and his wife to arrive. As the narrator says, “they had every reason to be fussy on such a night.” Lily, the caretaker’s daughter, is afraid Freddy Malins will turn up at the dance drunk. Gabriel is a young man, slightly unsure of himself, ...

In the story Araby, a boy develops a crush on a girl. He tells her he will bring her something back from the town bazaar. He arrives as it is closing and lacks enough money to buy something nice. He realizes that his view of the girl was a fantasy. The setting is described through imagery which highlights the conflict between the boy’s idealized view of the girl and the real person. The first contrasting images are light vs. darkness. The boy uses darkness to hide. On the first page, the narrator states "If my uncle was seen turning the corner, ...

Analysis of James Joyce’s “Araby”

James Joyce’s “Araby” is a part of a collection of stories called the “Dubliners”. These stories looked into the hearts, homes, and minds of the people who are connected by the spirit of Dublin, the home of the writer. “Araby” is one of the sort stories in the collection Dubliners, published in 1914. Although Joyce wrote the stories many years before, the stories included events and characters that were quite similar to the actual people and places in Dublin at the time. This led to the issue of libel arising from the strong similarities that existed between the fictitious people in ...

English 106

Introduction “What Love is,” was the most searched phrase on Google in the year 2012. It indeed is a feeling, like hunger, thirst. Love is an emotional need than a physical thus it is difficult to quantify it and say how much would be enough and how much will be more. Love is believed to be a tool that humanity thrives on a feeling of security, support, and most importantly the want to live life. It can be in most cases auspicious and can induce positive human behavior but then it has many negative aspects as well. People lose control on their ...

"Araby" can be said to be a complex short story written by Joyce as a reflection of the life of a young boy growing up in Dublin city. The narrator, a boy, is not named, and Joyce, the author, uses him as the first person; though the narrator appears to be more mature than the boy referred in the short story. Araby, focuses on fantasy and escape; revolving around despair, darkness as well as enlightenment. The story is retrospective of Joyce's life and looks back of his past life as well as his constant struggles (Smith 10). This story, Araby, involves a couple ...

Araby and titanic bear some similarities but also bear differences. Araby is a narrative of a man remembering his youthful experiences and his fascination with his friend’s sister who is older than him. The narrator develops strong feelings for the girl but is unable to gather courage to express his feelings to her. The girl speaks to him about an upcoming bazaar and which she is unable to attend due to her commitment to a school retreat. The boy promises to attend the bazaar and bring a gift for her. He becomes obsessed with her often dreaming about winning the girl’s affection ...

Coming of age and making the transition from child to man is one of the most difficult experiences a person ever lives through. One of the hardest elements about this is that it is the first major change. There is no former frame of reference to look back on. There is no concept that the smallest of errors will not have lifelong consequences. There also is no understanding of how thoughts, whether acted upon or not indirectly shape our actions. Araby by James Joyce and Nobody Said Anything by Raymond Carver both address that transition, and the attendant feelings ...

The house move is an important episode in Esperanza’s life since it demonstrates her parent’s ownership of something which is actually theirs. However Esperanza actually feels rather short changed by the house itself since it is small and run down and she actually wishes that the family could move somewhere else. We observe that the house is located in a particular area in Chicago where racial segregation is still prominent and which actually rules the roost. The move from the apartment to the house is symbolic of an emotional journey for Esperanza. Through this journey she experiences ...

György Lukács, the controversial Marxist literary historian and philosopher, proposed that as far as the context of literature is concerned, it reflects the condition of social life (Lukacs). Therefore, rather than appreciate a literary work from its aesthetic values, we can appreciate more from this perspective. Moreover, we cannot separate the process through which a literary work is created from the actual condition and environment of its creation. When it comes to literary works, they are greatly influenced by the socio-economic condition. In this case, authors would reflect this condition in their works. One such literary work that we ...

The narrator in James Joyce’s Araby is a mere boy of the age of nine or ten years. Although we see Dublin the way this little boy has described it, we find little warmth or joyousness in it, although the innocent little boy seems to think that whatever he sees around himself is very much normal. It is however pretty clear, that though this narration is of a little boy, the words are actually from someone who is a lot more mature. The boy seems to be infatuated with Mangan’s sister. He believes that she is his true love. ...

Araby is a short story by James Joyce about a young boy (unnamed; the narrator of the story) who has a secret romantic love for the sister of his friend (named Mangan). The story presents and contrasts two different settings – one being that of the frustrating everyday-life reality of the narrator and the other being a fanciful escape characterized by Mangan’s sister and the Araby bazaar. The dullness characterizing the narrator’s life, as portrayed by his lack of courage to admit his love for Mangan’s sister, the late arrival of his uncle who promised to lend him fare money for ...

Any literary work can be analyzed from various perspectives. Some scholars prefer to analyze language and lexicological devices of a text; others concentrate on the plot. There are also those who would prefer to study author’s biography and implications of personal life on a literary work. Although all mentioned above approaches to study of a literary work are correct and might help to unravel the hidden meaning of the text and true intentions of the author, there are also those cases when application of those techniques might not be enough for a comprehension of the literary work. Sometimes, in order to understand ...

'A & P' is a story about a checkout boy whose name is Sammy. The boy gives up his job following his boss’ unsympathetic speech to some three teenage girls. A keen analysis of the story reveals that in this work, John Updike, the author, portrays a contrast of two worldviews – the individualistic, non-conformist, and free-spirited views of the three teenage girls against the conventional, stoic, and conservative views of Mr. Lengel, Sammy’s manager. In this work, I have keenly analyzed the interpretations of two critics, Toni Saldivar and Walter Wells. To start with, I have given my own analysis and the ...

In his book Dubliners, James Joyce included fifteen short stories, which were originally aimed to depict the reality and naturalism of the Irish middle class life in Dublin and its suburbs in the beginning of the 20th century. Not only did James manage to depict the actual life of its protagonists, but he also managed to show the variety of colours of that life, catching reader’s attention, at the same time shocking him. The stories were actually written when Irish nationalism was in full swing. These were the days when people were searching for national ...