Araby vs. Macbeth
November 25, 2012
English Honors 11
Araby vs. Macbeth In the short story Araby, Joyce shows how a young boy develops a crush on Mangan's sister, a girl who lives next door. It all begins when Mangan's sister asked him if he planned on attending the bazaar known as Araby. The girl then explains that she will be away on a retreat when the bazaar is held and therefore unable to make it. The boy promises her that if he goes, he will buy her something. With the permission of his aunt and uncle, the boy was ecstatic. As the night arose, his uncle was nowhere to be found. After waiting a long time for his uncle to get home, he finally receives money for the bazaar. By the time the boy arrives to Araby, its too late. The event was shutting down for the night, and he didn't have enough money to buy Mangan's sister something nice like he promised. The boy left disappointed and heartbroken. The theme in the classic story of Araby can compare to the legendary play known as Macbeth. Similarities in themes between both Macbeth and Araby are acknowledged by the reader. One of the themes in Araby is desire drives people. The young boy is intrigued by the young woman and his heart has sent him out to return with a gift. His strong desire drove the boy and also let him down in the end. "I could not call my wandering thoughts together. I hardly had any patience with the serious work of life which, now that it stood between me and my desire, seemed to me child's play, ugly monotonous child's play." (Joyce 1150). This relates to the desire of Macbeth to be king, He would do anything it took to be King of Scotland and his desire is what drove him. However, Macbeth played foully to get to where he wanted unlike the young boy in Araby. In both stories Macbeth and Araby, the characters got their hopes up, only to be crushed. In Macbeth, after becoming king, he became very greedy. He starting asking the witches about the future, which only brought his confidence up more. But as
English Honors 11
Araby vs. Macbeth In the short story Araby, Joyce shows how a young boy develops a crush on Mangan's sister, a girl who lives next door. It all begins when Mangan's sister asked him if he planned on attending the bazaar known as Araby. The girl then explains that she will be away on a retreat when the bazaar is held and therefore unable to make it. The boy promises her that if he goes, he will buy her something. With the permission of his aunt and uncle, the boy was ecstatic. As the night arose, his uncle was nowhere to be found. After waiting a long time for his uncle to get home, he finally receives money for the bazaar. By the time the boy arrives to Araby, its too late. The event was shutting down for the night, and he didn't have enough money to buy Mangan's sister something nice like he promised. The boy left disappointed and heartbroken. The theme in the classic story of Araby can compare to the legendary play known as Macbeth. Similarities in themes between both Macbeth and Araby are acknowledged by the reader. One of the themes in Araby is desire drives people. The young boy is intrigued by the young woman and his heart has sent him out to return with a gift. His strong desire drove the boy and also let him down in the end. "I could not call my wandering thoughts together. I hardly had any patience with the serious work of life which, now that it stood between me and my desire, seemed to me child's play, ugly monotonous child's play." (Joyce 1150). This relates to the desire of Macbeth to be king, He would do anything it took to be King of Scotland and his desire is what drove him. However, Macbeth played foully to get to where he wanted unlike the young boy in Araby. In both stories Macbeth and Araby, the characters got their hopes up, only to be crushed. In Macbeth, after becoming king, he became very greedy. He starting asking the witches about the future, which only brought his confidence up more. But as