Shakiera Swinton
Professor Vazquez
ENC1102 T-TH 12:30-1:45
11 February 2014
The Resistant: Abraham Rodriguez & an Unreliable Narrator Harry Stone, an author of the 1960s, describes the story Araby by James Joyce as “preserving a central episode in Joyce's life, an episode he will endlessly recapitulate. The boy in "Araby," like the youthful Joyce himself, must begin to free himself from the nets and trammels of society. That beginning involves painful farewells and disturbing dislocations” (349). The story “Araby” is a short memoir of James Joyce’s life as a young boy. Growing up in a predominantly Catholic republic in Dublin Ireland, the unreliable narrator somehow felt alienated, introspective, and at times disappointed. Being a part of a community where there is one religion can have influence the way one sees the world. Corresponding to the unreliable narrator in “Araby”, Abraham Rodriguez from “The Boy without a Flag” is affected by the environment he lives in. Overcome with defiance, the two characters become resistant: one resisting being a part of a bizarre place and the other resisting to conforming to an American tradition. In the two short stories, hypocrisy, disappointment, and religion and beliefs are themes that successfully illustrate their resistance. False hopes and discovering actuality through personal caused the young narrators to resist and resent; Resisting being a part of the atmospheres they dwelled in.
James Joyce refers to religion throughout “Araby” to indicate his animosity towards the Catholic Church and Catholicism entirely. The narrator’s standpoint on hypocrisy in religion becomes vivid throughout the story. The story begins in a community that is drab, gloomy, and full of lust. “North Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian Brothers’ School set the boys free”. This illustration shows how the days that are burdened by the church only end when the boys are released from school. In the paragraphs that follow, he mentions the dead priest and compares his room to a prison cell. This implies that the church had their own transgressions. The narrator goes on to describe what he discovers in the priest’s room: “I found a few paper-covered books, the pages of which were curled and damp: The Abbot, by Walter Scott, The Devout Communicant, and The Memoirs of Vidocq” (1). This is where he discovers the hypocrisy. The books that he found was French porn and illegal in the Catholic Church. A priest is supposed to be living for God and performing sacred rituals, but instead he is reading French porn. At this point in the story, the church is questioned. Like “Araby”,” The Boy without a Flag” displays evidence of hypocrisy. Abraham’s father, a jaded individual, teaches Abraham to dislike imperialism in the U.S. Abraham’s father hands him a copy of a book on Albizu Campos, a revolutionary. When Abraham said he believed some it, his father called him a “Yankee flag waver.” Abraham valued his father opinion more than anything in the world and would do anything to refute that comment. The next day in school, he refused to stand up and pledge the flag. On more than one occasion, he still refused to pledge the flag. His rebellion caused his father to be contacted. When brought into school, Abraham’s father changed into a completely different person and called Abraham an idiot for not pledging the flag. At that point, Abraham discovered the flaws and double standards in his father. The man who told him to stand up for himself betrayed him. He was living two lives; one at home and one at school. Thus, hypocrisy affects the two main characters by making them face reality. Adults make mistakes too.
“Araby” illustrates a perception of how people never face reality and expect more causing disappointment. The narrator uses depressing references to describe the environment, but when he discusses Mangan’s sister, he using bright references. Mangan’s sister is an example of exquisiteness to the young man. When describing Mangan’s sister, a bright light is used as a comparison. She is his obsession. The young man is obsessed with his friend’s older sister and he envisions himself bringing her something back from the bazaar. Mangan’s sister is referred to as bright light because it gives her heavenly existence. As the story comes to a close, the narrator is confronted with reality. The bazaar lights are nearly turned off because the bazaar is soon closing. The boy wants the bazaar to be open so he can purchase a gift for Mangan’s sister. Unfortunately for him, the bazaar is not. He realizes that he cannot afford the things that are sold their anyway. At this point in the story, the boy comes to terms with life. What he dreamed his life to be like is not happening. He finds himself disappointed and ashamed of his fantasy. “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger” (5). He is angry with life and pessimistic. The disappointment the boy encounters is all a part of him losing innocence and growing up. He is no longer in a childlike phase in his life and has developed into this young man that is dismayed with life. Disappointment entered the life of Abraham Rodriguez as well. His father instilled independence into him and told him to stand up for himself and his culture at home, but in school it was a contradictory situation. He called Abraham an idiot for doing what he taught him to do. Abraham then became disappointed in his father. “I just put my head on the desk and shut my eyes, reliving my father’s betrayal. If what I did was so bad, why did I feel more ashamed of him than I did myself? His words once so rich and vibrant, now fell to the floor, leaves from a dead tree” (13). Abraham came to terms that even though he loved his father, he was imperfect. Hence, the two characters formed ideas of how things will and should be, but became disappointed with themselves when things didn’t work out as expected.
Religion and beliefs played major roles in both short stories. In “Araby,” Catholicism was the majority. Religion in fact, controlled the Irish. During this time, the Great Famine along with millions of people migrating, caused political and cultural struggles. Ireland wanted to be freed from British control in the political aspect and create their own individuality. For centuries, the Irish Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland have had conflict. They viewed each other like a different species, not just differing in religion. Rage, distrust, and ferocity have been exchanged between the two religions, and getting over their discrepancies seems unlikely. It’s a power battle. This caused the narrator to feel dislocated. The place he once called home seemed like an uninhabited house. He believes that the political atmosphere interferes with his love life. Beliefs, not so much as religion was present in “The Boy without a Flag.” Abraham’s father believed that the U.S. is a horrible place that treats Puerto Ricans as property. After the Spanish War in 1898, many Puerto Ricans moved to New York City. Puerto Ricans were treated as property of America. The Spanish Crown exiled immigrants of Puerto Ricans. Puerto Ricans struggled for liberation. Puerto Rico, alongside Cuba was the only two Spanish colonies that lingered. The Spanish Crown incarcerated and or deported anyone who endorsed independence for these two nations. Because of this, Abraham’s father felt cynical against America and believed that Abraham should stand up for his culture. “We are owned, like cattle. And because nobody has any pride in their culture to stand up for it” (8). Therefore, religion and beliefs played a major role in the two characters’ lives and caused them to feel alienated.
The young man in “Araby” and 11-year-old Abraham from “The Boy Without A Flag” both stand on common ground: resistant. Dublin Ireland, invaded by foreigners and antagonistic towards romance, pushed the unknown narrator in “Araby” away causing him to resist becoming a part of this bizarre place. In “The Boy without a Flag”, Abraham Rodriguez resisted pledging the flag for the sake of his culture. Hypocrisy, disappointment, and religion and beliefs are themes that demonstrate the resistance in the two young men. Feeling dislocated and betrayed, the two boys had to come in terms with reality and mature from adolescent stages. Seeing things through a broken glass, they catch sight of how things are not what they seem. Maturing through excursions of fantasies, false dreams, and disillusionment, the boys grew emotionally. People often get mislead by expectations. Through personal experience, reality becomes accepted.

Work Cited
Joyce, James. "Araby." Dubliners. 1914. New York: Norton, 2003. Google Books. Web.
28 Jun.2011. * I used this as a source because it was the text I was instructed to analyze.
Rodriguez, Abraham. The Boy without a Flag: Tales of the South Bronx. Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions, 1992. Print. * I used this as a source because it was the text I was instructed to analyze.
Stone, Harry. "Araby" And The Writings Of James Joyce." Antioch Review 71.2 (2013): 348-380. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. * I used this source to get more information on Araby. This broke Araby down for me and allowed me to understand the story better.

"THE STORY OF U.S. PUERTO RICANS - PART FOUR | Centro De Estudios Puertorriqueños." N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2014 * I used this to provide me with background information on Puerto Rican migrations to New York City.