2015 September 17
Araby:
In James Joyce’s short story, “Araby,” an anonymous young boy narrates his attempt at abandoning an austere existence in exchange for a more exciting lifestyle; his opportunity arrives in the form of Mangan’s sister, whose charm persuades the narrator into traveling to the bazaar. Throughout the story, Joyce incorporates contrast in his setting to display polarizing moods. The intricate descriptions of the setting emphasize the narrator’s monotonous life in his neighborhood, the change in perspective caused by his love, and the heavy symbolism behind the closing bazaar. Joyce begins his story with descriptions of the lifeless street on which the narrator lives, creating a despondent mood. In the opening sentence, the narrator states that the street is quiet, “except at the hour when the Christian Brother’s School set the boys free” (1). This depiction not only asserts the generally desolate atmosphere of the setting, but also suggests the narrator’s mundane life in his neighborhood. He goes on to note the uninhabited house at the end of the street, along with other houses that “gazed at one another with brown imperturbable faces” (1). The portrayal of the houses as having “imperturbable faces” conveys the uneventfulness of the narrator’s life. Everyday, the narrator and his friends run through the “dark muddy lanes behind the houses,” to the “dark dripping gardens,” into the “dark odorous stables” (1). Here, the repetition of “dark” depicts the dullness and bleakness of the setting, which furthers the despondent atmosphere. His life is fettered by monotony, as he and the neighbors are stung by cold air and the houses grow sombre as they play outside. Employing distant and hopeless diction, Joyce succeeds in creating a dreary mood, ultimately portraying the narrator’s inability to escape from his stodgy life.
In contrast to the bleak atmosphere established in the beginning, the mood changes upon the presence of Mangan’s sister. The narrator’s daily searches through the front parlour window for Mangan’s sister strike his heart with excitement. Blinded by infatuation and, physically often, by tears, the narrator’s outlook lifts whenever he sees her. Suddenly, desolate streets become “flaring streets,” and his senses become acute: “We walked… jostled by drunken men and bargaining women, amid the curses of labourers, the shrill litanies of shop-boys who stood on guard by the barrels of pigs’ cheeks...” (2). Joyce vividly creates depth to the setting through copious details and sensory imagery, ultimately portraying the shift in the narrator’s perspective. Moreover, Joyce exemplifies sound to further contrast moods. Silence encompassed by shadows and darkness juxtaposes the “shrill litanies” and “nasal chanting” that, “converged in a single sensation of life for me” (2). His sensations that are aroused by her image follow him, “even in the places most hostile to romance,” bringing optimism to his melancholy. Through juxtaposition of atmospheric setting, Joyce clearly illustrates the narrator’s enamored perspective, empowering the sister’s character and filling the narrator with false hope. When the narrator arrives at the bazaar, the morose tone returns, accentuating the theme of vain and obscured love. While Araby is vital to the setting, it is also symbolic of the narrator’s unconditional desire for Mangan’s sister. When he finally speaks to his love, he becomes euphoric. The all-encompassing silence is broken by the cry of Araby in which his “soul luxuriated and cast an Eastern enchantment” (2). Through this elation, Joyce illustrates the narrator’s pounding desire and anxious hope. However, his angst soon turns to unrest as time passes with no sign of his uncle: “I sat staring at the clock for some time and… its ticking began to irritate me” (3). Here returns the bleak mood through “high, cold, empty, gloomy” (3) rooms. Though after an “intolerable delay,” he boards a train that “crept onward among ruinous houses and over the twinkling river” (4). Joyce’s juxtaposition of “ruinous houses” and “twinkling river” in the scene draws a parallel to the narrator and Mangan’s sister; the narrator’s dark soul is enraptured by the illuminating light that radiates from his love. Upon arrival at the bazaar, he is again immersed by the hall’s darkness and silence, “like that which pervades a church after service” (4). Remembering his task, he visits one of the last open stalls and sees jars that “stood like eastern guards at either side of the dark entrance…” (4). The image of lined-up guards in identical poses provokes a sense of banality resembling his life. The narrator leaves the vacant hall with disappointment and forfeited love, signifying that his lifeless reality is impossible to overcome and his desires are in vain. Three settings epitomize the distinct states of the narrator: the neighborhood his satisfaction with a prosaic life ; the time with Mangan’s sister his fantasy of a glamorous lifestyle; the bazaar his recognition of being helpless when it comes to his endeavour at discarding his life of insignificance. Regardless of his former ecstasy with both Mangan’s sister and the bazaar, both dissipate in their initial appeal. Joyce punctuates on the ineptitude of the narrator in changing his lifestyle. Even when the narrator’s head brimmed with thoughts of Mangan’s sister, Joyce underscored the dejection of the surroundings. The narrator, no matter how desperately he struggles, remains incapable of departing his dull life, and finally surrenders to this truth.