What Does Araby Have An Impact On The Dubliners

Maya Angelou once said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” I often find that quote to be precisely true. “Araby” is a section of the book “The Dubliners”, which are all created by James Joyce. This story’s main focus is on something that I feel is pretty common nowadays: young love. It’s about a young boy that has an infatuation with his friend’s sister. He obsesses over her, and he watches her every move. The only problem is the girl isn’t aware of his feelings because the young boy hasn’t expressed his feelings to her. It is said that James Joyce wrote this story based on his personal life experiences.

Throughout the story, there were many relatable parts/scenes. One of the parts that were relatable was when the boy told the girl that he would get her something from the bazaar, but was disappointed when it didn’t work out in his favor. I would describe the boy as a naïve person because I think that at that moment if the girl would’ve asked him for anything at all, he would’ve agreed no questions asked. When she was on his mind, everything else was irrelevant to him. It was as though
his world revolved around her. I see that same issue happening in today’s world. Nowadays, a lot of teenagers are naïve because they think or believe that they’re in love. I’m not saying that they aren’t, but they’re still young. There are a lot of things in the world that they have yet to experience. Overall I think the entire story was relatable because I’m sure that many people have experienced a crush on someone and didn’t express their true feelings to that person.

The author did an incredible job by allowing the readers to be able to actually visualize some parts in the story. I could see the young boy watching the girl’s every move just as well as I could see/picture the boy being zoned out in school because the bazaar was on his mind. He didn’t want to disappoint the girl at all. The author seemed to base this story on ‘Light vs. Darkness.’ The light gave the reader a sense of hope when the girl finally acknowledged the boy and he told her he would bring her something. It had the reader thinking, “This may be the start to a new love or a new beginning.” When the boy arrived at the bazaar late and the saleswoman was rude, that was when the darkness took place. The boy ended up not buying anything, and all hope that the reader (maybe even the boy) was washed away clean.

How did this story impact my thoughts on young love?
Well, it certainly made me view things from a different perspective. I always thought if the person liked someone, why not just be open and express your feelings? But then again, there’s a sense of rejection and pride. The boy in the story had constant battles with himself because he knew that he would never be able to express his feelings for the girl to her face. It made me slightly agitated at times because it was like he was really in love with the girl, just from a distance. Like why not just confess your feelings? Sure, you may get rejected, but at least you won’t have any regrets about the situation. You did what you were originally supposed to do. Not to mention, the person can never say that they weren’t aware of your
feelings.

Overall, I thought this was an okay story. It wasn’t something that completely bored me, but at times the author was very descriptive. The young boy obsessed over the girl and when she finally acknowledged him, he offered a promise that he eventually couldn’t keep. I found that the author did in fact do an incredible job allowing the reader to be able to visualize certain parts in the story. As Maya Angelou quoted, I guarantee the boy will never forget how the girl made him feel deep within.