"Araby" - James Joyce Essay Example
ENG102.0820
Professor: Hyewon Shin
Student: Oscar Carvalho-Neto
Final Paper
"Araby" - James Joyce One of the most intriguing works by Irish writer James Joyce is "Araby" in which a young boy, who is the narrator, leads a carefree life in a Dublin neighborhood before falling in love with his friend's sister. He is always watching her steps, every single morning. When they finally speak, the girl mentions the existence of an exotic bazaar in town, named "Araby". The narrator then becomes obssessed with the idea of going to the bazaar to bring the girl a present. Nevertheless, disappointment is an important theme of the novel. The young boy is ultimately faced with reality when he goes to Araby and realizes that he cannot afford the things that are sold there. In others words, Joyce deals with the dichotomy of fantasy versus reality in "Araby", giving it a rather pessimistic approach, where reality and its negativity prevail. In order to better comprehend Joyce's "Araby", it is important to understand the author's biography and the time in history in which "Dubliners" was written. Joyce was born in a poor family in February of 1884. His father had several jobs and his mother was a devout Catholic. A young Joyce eventually moved to Paris, where he worked as a teacher and journalist, and later, during World War I, he took refuge in Zurich, Switzerland. Since Joyce spent great part of his adult life outside of Ireland, "Dubliners" is written through the eyes of a "refugee", as a member of Dublin's society who is also an outsider. Through "Dubliners" and its short stories, including "Araby", Joyce describes life in Dublin, how religion influenced and dominated Irish society and how a national identity came to be. At that time, Ireland, a country that had suffered the horrors of the Great Famine in the past along with the death and emigration of millions of its people was now struggling culturally and politically to create its own identity and breakaway from
Professor: Hyewon Shin
Student: Oscar Carvalho-Neto
Final Paper
"Araby" - James Joyce One of the most intriguing works by Irish writer James Joyce is "Araby" in which a young boy, who is the narrator, leads a carefree life in a Dublin neighborhood before falling in love with his friend's sister. He is always watching her steps, every single morning. When they finally speak, the girl mentions the existence of an exotic bazaar in town, named "Araby". The narrator then becomes obssessed with the idea of going to the bazaar to bring the girl a present. Nevertheless, disappointment is an important theme of the novel. The young boy is ultimately faced with reality when he goes to Araby and realizes that he cannot afford the things that are sold there. In others words, Joyce deals with the dichotomy of fantasy versus reality in "Araby", giving it a rather pessimistic approach, where reality and its negativity prevail. In order to better comprehend Joyce's "Araby", it is important to understand the author's biography and the time in history in which "Dubliners" was written. Joyce was born in a poor family in February of 1884. His father had several jobs and his mother was a devout Catholic. A young Joyce eventually moved to Paris, where he worked as a teacher and journalist, and later, during World War I, he took refuge in Zurich, Switzerland. Since Joyce spent great part of his adult life outside of Ireland, "Dubliners" is written through the eyes of a "refugee", as a member of Dublin's society who is also an outsider. Through "Dubliners" and its short stories, including "Araby", Joyce describes life in Dublin, how religion influenced and dominated Irish society and how a national identity came to be. At that time, Ireland, a country that had suffered the horrors of the Great Famine in the past along with the death and emigration of millions of its people was now struggling culturally and politically to create its own identity and breakaway from