James Joyce
Donna Campbell
Professor Bernhardt
English Composition II
18 February 2013 Dreams of Love In the short stories Eveline and Araby, James Joyce uses an optimistic reality created by dreams to show the separate, but similar fates of two people experiencing their first love. Both characters dream of how their life will change when united with their objects of affection. They idolize their crush’s and experience confusion and difficult decisions in pursuing their relationships. These stories give insight into the dreams and conflicts of young love during this time.
Araby is a story told about a boy who is experiencing his first crush. While his friends run and play outside, he sits at the window waiting for a glimpse of Mangan’s sister. He scoffs at the other children because he thinks he is more mature than them. He does not pay attention at school because he considers his assignments “ugly monotonous child’s play”. In Eveline, the reader is given a glimpse into a life of hard labor and the threat of violence from an alcoholic father from which she had no one to protect her. Her desire to go away with Frank seems to be the perfect way to leave behind all that is depressingly familiar and venture out into the world and avoid following in her mother’s footsteps. Eveline believed Frank could save her. The characters in both stories have dreams about changing their world and their significant others play key roles in those changes.
The boy in Araby fantasizes about Mangan’s sister and her beauty and what would make her happy. From his very first peek of the girl, “the soft rope of her hair tossed from side to side”, it is clear that the character adores his friend’s sister. Eveline also recalls Frank as “very kind, manly, open-hearted”. As a sailor, he has been to many places around the world and his sophistication and worldliness appeal to Eveline. She fears ending up as her mother had and Frank is her ticket out of Dublin. He teases her with trips to the
Professor Bernhardt
English Composition II
18 February 2013 Dreams of Love In the short stories Eveline and Araby, James Joyce uses an optimistic reality created by dreams to show the separate, but similar fates of two people experiencing their first love. Both characters dream of how their life will change when united with their objects of affection. They idolize their crush’s and experience confusion and difficult decisions in pursuing their relationships. These stories give insight into the dreams and conflicts of young love during this time.
Araby is a story told about a boy who is experiencing his first crush. While his friends run and play outside, he sits at the window waiting for a glimpse of Mangan’s sister. He scoffs at the other children because he thinks he is more mature than them. He does not pay attention at school because he considers his assignments “ugly monotonous child’s play”. In Eveline, the reader is given a glimpse into a life of hard labor and the threat of violence from an alcoholic father from which she had no one to protect her. Her desire to go away with Frank seems to be the perfect way to leave behind all that is depressingly familiar and venture out into the world and avoid following in her mother’s footsteps. Eveline believed Frank could save her. The characters in both stories have dreams about changing their world and their significant others play key roles in those changes.
The boy in Araby fantasizes about Mangan’s sister and her beauty and what would make her happy. From his very first peek of the girl, “the soft rope of her hair tossed from side to side”, it is clear that the character adores his friend’s sister. Eveline also recalls Frank as “very kind, manly, open-hearted”. As a sailor, he has been to many places around the world and his sophistication and worldliness appeal to Eveline. She fears ending up as her mother had and Frank is her ticket out of Dublin. He teases her with trips to the