G. James Joyce
1. How does “Araby” convey a sense of desolation and gloom? What words, symbols, and motifs contribute to this atmosphere? Is the narrator’s despair at the end of “Araby” confined to his frustration with the bazaar itself or does it extend to larger issues? The “Araby” is considered gloomy in reference to the character’s feelings of isolation and being incomplete or unwelcomed. Yet, there is a theme of light vs dark. For instance, the character’s mood slightly brightens when he sees his crush, “her figure defined by the light of the half-opened door” (2279). However, symbolism is relevant to the character for the house mentioned at the beginning is, “An uninhabited house of the two stories stood at the blind end, detected from …show more content…
The Prophet’s Hair – Salman Rushdie 2. How does the use of satire in “The Prophet’s Hair” affect your understanding of the story? Is there anything in it that is not satirical? Which characters and situations come under the harshest treatment? The use of satire in the story gives me the impression that the author does not believe in the religion and views it as fiction. For example, the character is so immersed with the prophet’s hair that he begins to warship it rather than the prophet himself, who ‘created’ the hair. To further the point, “Closing his fist around his unique discovery [the hair], he muttered to the boatman that he changed his plans, and hurried to his sanctum, where, behind closed doors, he feasted his eyes on his find” (3005). However, there are some points in the story that are not satirical like the father’s drastic change which is eerily like the radicals of the Islamic belief. For instance, “he told his wife that, far from being the principal beneficiary of his will, she would receive no more than the eighth portion which was her due under Islamic law. Then he turned upon his children… and accusing his daughter of lasciviousness, because she went around the city barefaced, which was unseemly for any good Muslim girl to do” (3006). Although, all the characters suffered physically and mentally. The one that had the most trauma was Atta whose body was beaten to death by a pair of robbers, “His body was carried by anonymous hands to the edge of the lake… torn and bleeding, on the deserted embankment of the canal…” (3002). Another exert states, “Atta himself, suffering terrible from exposure as well of a broken skull…”