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Comparison of protagonist in “araby” and “cathedral” .

Epiphany refers to the point in a literary text when a character has a sudden realization or insight that affects his or her views in some significant way. In both short stories “Araby” by James Joyce and “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver the narrators both go...

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In “Araby”, Joyce portrays the transition of a young boy into adulthood, which makes him aware of the difference between real and ideal life. It describes the mundane routine of the society in which he comes across the various circumstances that, finally, makes him realize...

Blind Devotion in James Joyce’s “Araby”

“Araby” by James Joyce is a short story whose basic external story is easy to follow. However, typical of Joyce, it is actually deeply layered allegorical story, with autobiographical themes and references to medieval, religious, and classic references. Though when the story is read for...

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Araby: The Battle of Lust and Family Roots

Epiphany is a central motif in “Araby” which represents disappointment. Joyce defines epiphany as the moment when the essence of a character is revealed. In this paper, I will show that the boy experiences incremental but eye-opening discoveries that will help him understand more about...

Syntax Mistakes Of Arabs English Learners

Scommunicate using more than one language. Cummins (35) explains that threshold hypothesis is efficient in achieving language proficiency at three level. The levels are LL1, LL2 and LL3 meaning learner level 1, learner level 2, learner level 3. All these three levels are needed to...

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The Use Of Social Media Among Arab Females

Personality detection from appearance by humans has long been a topic of interest in the domain of psychology, as it has deep implications in studying personal interaction and first impressions. The vast majority of the investigations in brain science have concentrated on outward appearances as...

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Best topics on Araby

1. Comparison of Protagonist in “Araby” and “Cathedral”

2. Exploration of Symbolism in Younghood in Joyce’s Araby

3. Blind Devotion in James Joyce’s “Araby”

4. Araby: The Battle of Lust and Family Roots

5. Syntax Mistakes Of Arabs English Learners

6. The Use Of Social Media Among Arab Females

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Symbolism in “Araby” Short Story by James Joyce

Symbolism is a rather significant literary device that is widely used by a variety of authors and takes their works on a higher level. A short story “Araby,” written by a great Irish novelist James Joyce and in 1914 published in his Dubliners collection, is filled with different symbols. Some of them represent and reveal the topics of romance and religion, providing a deep interconnection and opposition of these two concepts. In contrast, others have the purpose of illustrating other aspects of the short story, namely, its world and the narrator’s perception of it. That is why understanding and analyzing the symbols in “Araby” is crucial.

First, it is essential to notice that not only objects become symbols in this short story but also characters. For example, when portraying Mangan’s sister, for whom the narrator has deep romantic feelings that are mixed with reverence, respect, and even timidity, Joyce uses symbolism. It allows the author to emphasize an eternal connection between religion and love and a thin line between purity and sinfulness. When describing the girl, the narrator mentions “her figure defined by the light,” “the white curve of her neck,” and “the white border of a petticoat” (Joyce 403, 404). The lightness and ease of Mangan’s sister make her the Virgin Mary symbol. She is an innocent young lady who is not aware of the narrator’s romantic feelings, and her religious purity will not probably allow her to return the boy’s love.

Further, the fact that the narrator never mentions the girl’s name and only refers to her as the sister of his friend is another symbol related to her. At first, it may seem unreasonable since she is an object of the narrator’s intense, passionate, and youthful romantic feelings and plays a great role in his life as the representation of light. It is for her sake that the boy seeks to go to Araby and buy a precious gift. Nevertheless, the absence of her name in the story may mean that she is eventually left in the past as a sweet memory and does not become more significant to the narrator when he grows up.

Another symbol is the death of the former tenant of the narrator’s house – an old priest. According to the narrator, “he had been a very charitable priest,” and his death may symbolize the values that religion preaches, namely generosity, mercy, and love for other people (Joyce 402). Although it is possible to suggest that he was charitable during his lifetime, “in his will he had left all his money to institutions and the furniture of his house to his sister,” which is his last and probably the greatest manifestation of generosity and love (Joyce 402). Additionally, his death and the fact currently a young boy lives in his house illustrate the inevitability of changes from conservative social and religious views to more liberal and open-minded.

Some of the deceased priest’s belongings also may be considered symbols. First, it is a “rusty bicycle pump” that is hidden under a bush in his garden (Joyce 402). Second, those books that the narrator finds in the former tenant’s room, namely, romance and crime novels, do not seem to fit into the image of the servant of God and the church member. These objects found by the boy allow the readers to doubt the truthfulness and sincerity of the priest’s intentions and faith, as well as the reliability of the Catholic Church itself. Indeed, no one knows what is hidden in the priest’s garden or room, so this symbol directs readers to the question of religion and its truth. Moreover, it also brings up thoughts about the necessity and inevitability of changes in society’s lifestyle and way of thinking and its transition to liberalism.

Furthermore, brown color, which is mentioned more than once in the story, is another symbol in “Araby.” For instance, the narrator describes the houses that “gazed at one another with brown imperturbable faces” and Mangan’s sister’s “brown figure” (Joyce 402, 403). This color is used by the author in order to emphasize the boredom, discouragement, and hopelessness of the whole story and the narrator himself. When everything around is brown, there is no chance one may be in a good mood or have high hopes for tomorrow. What is more, the purpose of brown color surrounding the citizens is probably to make sure they continue living their “decent lives” where nothing exciting or interesting may ever happen (Joyce 402). This also explains the narrator’s passionate feelings for the girl – he wanted to have some kind of adventures, feel different, and be able to hide from reality in his imagination, thinking about Mangan’s sister.

To draw a conclusion, one may say that symbols play a significant role in Joyce’s “Araby.” They allow the story’s readers to gain a more in-depth understanding of its aspects and give them an opportunity to review their opinions about various phenomena of everyday life. What is more, the use of symbolism also reveals the author’s and probably the narrator’s points of view regarding religion, romance, the needed changes in society and church, and the surrounding environment. Therefore, even when reading a short story like “Araby,” it is crucial to pay attention to what is inherent in an object, action, or a character’s image and be ready to see and understand more than merely the story’s plot. Searching for and interpreting symbols may help gain a more profound and substantial perception of a literary work and provide a reader with unique thoughts and ideas.

Joyce, James. “Araby.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing , edited by X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia, Pearson, 2016, pp. 402-406.

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“Araby” by James Joyce Literature Analysis Essay

1. introduction.

For many scholars, James Joyce's status as an expatriate at the turn of the 20th century elevates him to the level of a true artist as he found in the cities of Zurich, Trieste, and most importantly Paris that ideal cosmopolitan space in which to create his art. Born in the year 1882 in Dublin, his family was of fairly solid middle-class origins. As a young man, Joyce became involved in various Irish nationalist groups and began writing on the subject of Ireland's political place in an empire dominated by England. It was also the case, however, that James Joyce quickly became disillusioned by the in-fighting and bickering that too often characterized the Irish nationalist movements of the time. This disillusionment led Joyce to abandon the lifestyle of his parents and have a series of intense love affairs with lively young women. All of these varied life experiences allowed Joyce to create masterpieces of modernist literature like "Ulysses" and "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man". By focusing on some of the most ordinary everyday events and vivid slices of life, James Joyce was able to give readers a more beautiful, more brilliant, and well-informed perspective of life and the world around us. The story "Araby" illustrates the love and affection that the narrator, a bold young boy living in a decaying and grey public neighborhood in Dublin in the late 1800s, has for Mangan's sister. First appearing as the young girl who resides next door, Mangan's sister sparks a flame of youthful optimism and a deep infatuation within the narrator. This is brought to life for the audience by countless references to light and darkness throughout the story, including "the white curve of her neck," her "soft rope of hair," and the skin of her "skinny arms". In addition, the literary technique of the epiphany - a sudden revelation experienced by the characters, often used to demonstrate the liberation that self-discipline and willpower can bring - features prominently in "Araby". It is well worth further noting the contrast and opposition between the urban environment and the tendencies toward peaceful landscapes, both of which are prevalent in the story as the narrator transitions from the outer world of the street to the world of his infatuated mind.

1.1. Background of James Joyce

James Joyce was a modernist writer who was born in Dublin, Ireland. He is considered one of the most influential writers of the early 20th century. Joyce is celebrated for his unique narrative and prose writing style. Many of his literary works contain autobiographical elements and themes of childhood and adolescence. In his short story "Araby," the story is told in first person, and the main character is faced with a growing and aching desire. In "Araby," James Joyce uses the backdrop of a derelict market to do this, and he uses the colors of the different stalls in the market as symbols or illusions in the main character's mind. James Joyce employs a narrative voice as opposed to a character. James Joyce described his purpose in writing these "Dubliners" as follows: "My intention was to write a chapter of the moral history of my country and I chose Dublin for the scene because that city seemed to me the center of paralysis." Joyce's Dublin is a world where things may be viewed as abnormal, unpredictable, and curious, reflecting the narrator's and other characters' feelings towards their situation in the city. Throughout his life, James Joyce experienced near blindness due to many optical problems. Because of this, he was always sensitive to the way things looked and the way appearance can differ from reality. "Araby" features many sensory details, the surface of Joyce's tale, especially in the descriptions of the sound and the visual compulsive nature of the young man. All these sensory details collectively comprise the imageries that present and reinforce the general theme and mood of the story. His early poems reveal inspiration from the Romantic era.

1.2. Overview of "Araby"

Araby, the title of the essay, is a renowned story composed by James Joyce. This story has been interpreted and scrutinized over the years by numerous literary experts. The story has a casual tone, rather than being formal. In this story, the writer employs various features of both narrative and descriptive techniques. Joyce employs first person narrative perspective. In addition to this, the author utilizes vivid language and also a wide range of images, similes, metaphors, and symbolic words in the novel to express his conscience. The story is open in the sense that the end findings are not placed to it before the ending. The story ends with a dark, uninhabited abode. The author, through this story, tries to present people's efforts of turning, firstly from fantasy to reality, and secondly from spiritual love to bodily love. The creation of the spiritual labyrinth is the symbol of this. Restraint and peace, accompanied by the maintenance of beauty and clarity of thought to intellect, is the hope in the heart that's beating of the man, an aspiration attainable only through love's lyrical expression of a commitment to life and the world. In his essay "Araby", Joyce creates a critical study of the modern coming-of-age story. He derives the Parable of the Quest from such classic gospels as the quest of Greek myth. He discovers analogues to the quest. The moment one human being has a quest, it gives a model for others and gives one a significance of life. He proves this significance of life by a mystical practice. Rather than depicting the mundane conditions of everyday life, the author creates a scrap of hope for the man. The hope for the ideal of a peaceful, restful, restorative love is what keeps the man alive. The actuality of the things is constantly reminded by various symbols in the story from the start to the end. Additionally, "Araby" is also a story about a journey, both physical and mental. It is a contemporary representation of the quest cycle. The boy's adventure begins and ends in Dublin during the late 19th century. He travels from the light-spiritedness of boyhood to the damp, darkness of reality.

2. Analysis of Themes

In "Araby", the story's narrator is unnamed yet, as a young boy, he's trying to win the affection of Mangan's sister. And in some ways, "Araby" is a kind of story of a boy in a one-sided love. The boy thinks of Mangan's sister, the girl in this story he barely knows, almost every moment, even when he is in school. It could be a little cute since we all had those "puppy love" or infatuation when we were young. But actually, the story is not really about the young boy's infatuation in teenage. It's a little bit more complicated and deep. If you realize that, you could get that there are lots of scenes and stories in "Araby" are connected or repeated. Firstly, the story begins with the boy's description of the North Richmond Street: "North Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian Brothers' School set the boys free." Then, the boy described Mangan's sister and the scene he saw her, the story will go to that there are building work near the boy's house and they are led by two men who are English. And you can find that the boy did go to the bazaar eventually. But one of the English has changed their mind so the boy missed the chances to go to Araby because of him. And the scene that the boy showed his anger to his aunt, there are "Dinner won't be ready" and "her tones" are repeated four times. From my perspective, these similar elements go through the whole story to emphasize the main idea. This also helps me to do the analysis and to find the themes in the story. Well, as an English teacher, it's not hard for me to find that "Araby" is actually a boy's discovery about the world, about society and learning what growing up means. The boy in the story does not seem to understand his feelings and the world around him, he's very confusing and he's easily influenced by outside forces. This can be proved by the fact that it was his uncle, not the boy himself, who stimulated and aroused his interest to go to Araby. But actually there's not much information about his uncle's desire, it just said that his uncle had been sounding his lips. And so, the word "arouse" is a little bit weird here because it doesn't mean to awaken some feeling, instead, it emphasizes to excite feeling. Also, at the beginning of the story, James Joyce used the Christian feast name "Epiphany" to set the situation for the boy's feelings and his ideas of the adult world. He writes: "the other houses of the street, conscious of decent lives within them, gazed at one another with brown imperturbable faces." It's kind of like a common idea when we are analyzing a story we will try to find out the bit where the story climaxes or is stimulated by. And for "Araby", many analyses process are focused on the ending of the story. Because the ending of the story is not that straightforward so it raises lots of different ideas and thoughts. In the end of the story, the boy "cried" and the feeling of "chivalric" was gone. Well, my students, especially the boys, will think that the boy starts to grow and find out the world in a different way. And also, some of them, especially the Catholics, they will think that the "darkness" which is described in the ending of the story is kind of symbolizes the boy's give up to the religious. Because in the whole story, Joyce applied lots of symbols and religion seems to be always connected to the boy, such as the boy's imagination of Mangan's sister has a deep religious color and the name which is "Mary", the holy mother, the nun, blind street and Araby.

2.1. Coming of Age

"Araby" tells the story of a young boy's passage into adolescence. The boy lives in a peaceful and quiet neighborhood, but as he begins to develop deeper feelings for the girl who lives across the street, Mangan's sister, his journey begins to illustrate those of a young man grappling with the feelings of infatuation and awakening that symbolize the coming of age. This is exemplified by the manner in which his emotions and his connection to the girl evolve from harmless child's play to something that begins to mirror the feelings and relationships of the adults around him. The story maps the dramatic and unexpected shifts in emotion associated with the crossing of a meaningless chasm in life, such as a boy falling in love in a moment at a church bazaar, and the more substantial and bitter changes that give rise to the loss of childhood and, eventually, the assertion of an individual's independence and the formation of his own identity. This deeper and more impactful alteration is first hinted at and ultimately confirmed by the revelation at the end of the narrative. The moment when the uncle arrives home in the evening and the boy violates his early dusk curfew represents a critical change in the nature and direction of his journey towards adulthood. Up until and through this moment, the reader is afflicted with the boy in a kind of innocent fantasy and buoyant optimism, but when the uncle's malignant and drunken existence is revealed, it provides an explanation for the boy's loneliness as well as serving as a symbolic slaying of the anima embodied by the infatuation with Mangan's sister. This element of the story is critical for the understanding of the boy's coming of age and places his journey in a social and familial context as well. The moral and emotional growth that the boy, as a young member of society, must confront and undertake is part of a legacy of growth and progression that has been handed down through generations via the influences and attitudes of the adults around him. This suggestion is further complicated, but also somewhat softened, by the final exchange between the boy and the girl's sister and the ridiculous adult exchanges between his uncle and the niece. "Araby" ultimately is a story about the first love of a young boy, and at some point, it ends in disappointment and despair. In contrast to popular belief, this is not the only meaning of the story, but the other interpretations relate to the boy's disillusionment of myth and the church and the underlying agony that he has initiated. His love is a self-centered love because it is that he wants to be nearer to her, but it is not mainly concern for her happiness.

2.2. Illusion vs. Reality

It is the author's opinion that the central theme of "Araby" is illusion, a common thread found in many of Joyce's works. There is a great deal of food in the story of "Araby." Food has meaning in that it represents a great deal of minimum sustenance and the plight that the poor must endure. It is sight we all delight in, a true illusion and one we can trust with certainty. The walking out of the third act on the play that the man is witnessing and the dazed walking through the fair seems to this author a repeat of the same illusion theme. The bells begin and people are validated with this long-awaited moment of their worship. However, as the man steps forward and loses his tenuous hold on what he dreams to be, a splendidly reality and begins to develop a belief in the truth of an illusion, the girl escalated and the play was over. We can see as the man's "breath hissed" that he had let go of something and accepted the truth or the reality that he was dreaming of. We can also see the pains that he suffered in doing so when our author jealousy described the falseness of the woman and the reality of her admission of the same. In truth, any plain person would be overjoyed to show and to communicate a sense of a unity of human for the aid of a fellow mortal who cannot overcome the pain which the mortal had begun to make a part of her. However, illusions are sweet; truth is painful. The latecomer is represented not in the sight or the peep into what is believed to be natural, but in hope, future with meaning, not just means to a problem. The mortal things of giving up an illusion feed the stubbornness. Hopelessness is a bad cause to keep up an illusion. The importance of sight and the culminating symbol of the omniscient words of bells has been a key factor throughout the entire literary work. The author continuously involves sight in every step of the journey of the main character, building up an illusion, shattering of the madness of the illusion and the pride of the eventual understanding of truth. It is incredible that although the word "sight" and its variations have been a key building tool for the development and presentation of the theme throughout almost the entire literary work, the end of the successful exploration of the theme, the author presents the idea that true understanding does not have to be validated visually, but can be expressed through other means of revelation.

2.3. Religious Symbolism

The religious imagery in "Araby" is linked with the idea of "fall" from innocence and purity. The fall is part of the myth of the Garden of Eden, which can be found in the Bible. When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden, they bring sin and a fallen ecosystem into the world. However, they also gain something - their human identity and knowledge. This idea of fall and gaining knowledge can be applied to the story of "Araby" and the protagonist. The first religious reference is "North Richmond Street" which is described as being "blind", and the quietness is contrasted with the noise from the boys. The street where the boy lives is a dead end; this often associates with the idea of spiritual death. The use of the word "blind" creates a sense of lack of spiritual awareness or a lack of higher knowledge. However, the reference of "street" also has a second meaning in association of a saint. St. Mary of "Egypt" is a saint who goes through a period of fall and then redemption in her life and she is often seen as a figure reflecting the protagonist's mood and his life. His feeling of blind life could be seen as the period of "fall" and becoming aware of what is happening around him and then his decision of escaping from the "blind" life can be related to the need of spiritual fulfillment. In the end, it's his "awakening" of knowledge of the world that makes him have a "pang of spiritual hunger" which close to the prodigy that he will gain something, and the use of the word "pang" also indicates a sudden sharp pain in the heart which is associated with the imagery of religious ecstasy. All these religious symbols suggests that the childhood adore and youthful idealization of Mangan's sister are always been linked with the spiritual things and represents his identity and growth. The protagonist is in the state of "fall" as he is living in a society with lacks of religious knowledge and spirituality while the end of the story is indicating he will begin a quest in finding "something", including knowledge and a sense of faith. The twist of religious knowledge and spiritual fall of the modern Dublin and the growth of the protagonist are entirely built in these religious symbols, and they creatively help the reader to experience the poetry of motion, which is always associated with the true spiritual journey towards Christ.

3. Literary Techniques

Joyce employs a substantial amount of symbolism throughout "Araby". The very name of the bazaar itself, "Araby", is a symbol. It refers to the walled, medieval city of Arabia, or, more specifically, to the mythical and romanticized Arabia of the 19th century, "the far East". The boy's misguided, romantic thoughts fall apart around him and he is filled with despair. A normally joyful place, full of vibrancy, the bazaar and its surroundings appear to be dark, suffocating and full of emptiness to the boy. This contrast is extremely symbolic, Joyce using it to show how the boy's view of the world has altered and what he has gone through. The street and the houses themselves are used as symbols throughout the story. The street is long, dark, and "cold" and the houses "gazed at one another with brown imperturbable faces". The houses mirror the boy's feelings, as the street mirrors his journey. The vast majority of the street is in darkness, with only some light appearing a long way down the street. This is extremely symbolic and represents how the boy is being led along a hopeless and dark journey, full of doubt and despair. He feels very alone and isolated, with no hope, represented by the complete darkness that surrounds him. However, at the end of the street, there is a light, and this light is symbolic in the story, given the context and what it represents, of hope. When the boy finally reaches the bazaar, he finds that most of the stalls are closed, and the few stalls that remain open are selling trivial things of very little value. This is extremely symbolic and is yet another example of Joyce using the setting and locations of the story as symbols.

3.1. Symbolism

In this essay, the author examines the various symbols present in "Araby." The essay explains the symbolic meaning of the light in the story and how it is linked to the main character's feelings and desires. While examining the use of light as a symbol in "Araby," the essay explains that the light represents the main character's fantasies and illusions, especially his idealization of Mangan's sister. The author demonstrates the symbols of light is associated with darkness; it underlines how the boy's feelings and emotions are represented through the ever-changing lighting of the story. The essay then traces the paradox of the train during the climax of "Araby." By using the symbol of the train, the essay argues, Joyce indicates the painful transformation of the boy's blind passion for Mangan's sister into the discovery of a deep emptiness. Furthermore, the essay explores the symbolic representation of the decaying house in which Mangan's sister resides. Through a close reading of sections of the story in which the house is described, the essay asserts that the decaying house conveys the social and cultural pressures and paralysis that the boy lives into. The house, the author argues, becomes a central symbol that underpins the boy's disillusionment and awakening in the story. The essay concludes the examination of the house as a symbol by showing how the pervasive decay and paralysis suggest the boy's awakening from an illusory idealization. By discovering what the house faithfully is and is not, the author concludes, the boy starts to see past symbols of emotional and romantic ideals and begins to grasp the darkness and harshness of reality.

3.2. Imagery

The final and perhaps most compelling aspect of literary criticism that "Araby" presents deals with how imagery is used in the story. There are countless examples of the importance that visual imagery and descriptive language play in the development of various aspects of the plot and the storytelling. From the opening paragraph of the story when, according to the summary of this literary analysis of "Araby" by James Joyce, the reader is confronted with "darkness" to the final climactic scenes where the "falling" of the night in the surrounding neighborhood brings a decisive revelation to the main character, every moment of "Araby" is made more vivid and meaningful by the use of an imagery and rich descriptive detail. The significance of the visual details of the story emphasize the realization that the characters in the plot come to feel and recognize. By emphasizing the vividness and color and vibrancy of the experience of his characters through expressive language and insightful detail, James Joyce adds to the impact of the story and gives it an extra layer of depth and emotion. The severity of the disappointment and the bitterness of the realization that the main character experiences toward the end of "Araby" is made even more powerful by the fact that, from the very beginning, the author illustrates the world of the story through a visual element. The use of visual imagery helps to support the theme of illusion and reality. In "Araby", the use of visual imagery is seen in the description, "a rough tumbling surging music began to play: a waltz of Strauss". This use of visual imagery in the description of music's detail helps indicate a sign of vanity in Mangan's sister. This is because the music being played is a Strauss, a type of ballroom music. Therefore, this visual sense tends in particular to follow his characters whichever way they may turn and offers the readers a greater understanding of the emotion and meaning. For example, the story itself gains a great deal of atmosphere and emotional impact from the richness and color of language that the author employs. This enrichment that the story receives from visual detail contributes directly to the reader's enjoyment and makes the story a living and moving thing. "Araby" combines a mixture of vivid visual and arresting auditory details to evoke and create the sense of a repressed and stifled world. And it offers this world and the conditions and situations of the various characters as a kind of labyrinth that these characters must eventually find their way out of and escape from. All the various sort of visual description that the author provides throughout the work serves as a series of signposts for both the emotional and inner world of the characters and the need and struggle of the characters to find their way out of the imposed suppression in which they feel themselves living.

3.3. Narrative Perspective

Narrative perspective refers to the set of characteristics that determines the method of narration in a particular story. Simply put, narrative perspective has to do with who is telling the story. In "Araby", the first person narration is adopted. The author uses a mature man's experience, from the "childish" language of the early paragraphs to the lifeless and impersonal "the" in the last paragraph. The narrative perspective allows readers to develop a real sense of the main character's feelings; they can trace the protagonist's growing consciousness of adult realities over the course of the story, from his heavily romanticized notions of love to his final, bitter recognition of betrayed hopes. The use of first person helps to focus attention on the main character, whose thoughts and feelings are the main concern of the story. Moreover, Joyce's sparse but evocative use of descriptions and details really helped readers to enter into the imagination of the young protagonist. An example is the boy's description of the peeling posters on his uncle's walls. The use of visual images such as "the waste of potted meat and Argentine pears" and "the colored print of the Sacred Heart" helps to contribute to a dimension of complexity and vividness. The narrative perspective fits the theme of "Araby", a twentieth century Irish narrative, in a way, foreshadows the way that the protagonist's romantic dreams of Mangan's sister will be slowly but steadily replaced by the reality of the adult world. This provides a feeling of movement and change that would be difficult to achieve using a less intimate narrative form. The third person narratives may limit intricate psychological details of the story as the readers' perceptions may be scattered and affected by multiple viewpoints. The use of this narrative perspective really helps readers to understand and identify with the protagonist's emotional vicissitudes. The concluding phrases of the story are really disturbing. This abrupt ending changes the reader's feeling and switches the general mood; from a passionate love story to guilty-infected anger. It has a remarkable, fluid and poignant end. The reader is dazed with an epiphany of the protagonist and it puts the reader into deep thoughts regarding the twisted nature of the real adult world. This narrative perspective in a way actually provides us vital distance and our knowledge of the young boy and eventually intensifies the main ironies of the story.

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Home / Essay Samples / Literature / Araby / Literary Analysis Of Araby By James Joyce

Literary Analysis Of Araby By James Joyce

Category: Literature
Topic: Araby , Short Story

Pages: 2 (917 words)

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