Araby Notes - 1092 Words

In James Joyces short story Araby, the male narrators coming-of-age is transposed against a tale of an innocent womans supposed falling from grace, in the eyes of the young man. The young man promises to go to a fair called Araby. The name Araby was often thought to comprise the fictional or romanticized version of Arabia or Arab world, such as in the then-popular song The Sheik of Araby. (Araby, 2005) The young man promises to bring the young woman something from the far-off and exotic fair. However, when the young man goes to the fair and sees what goes on there between English men and women in the foreign and carnival context, his pure image of the woman is broken and destroyed. This fall from grace not only parallels the†¦show more content†¦In the first portion of the story, his ideal was Mangans sister whom he saw from a distance and felt fascinated by the very sight. The author portrays his eager watching or for a slight view of her with an idealistic yearning and rom antic sensibility. Of course, he was too young to realize then what love was, but he became somehow or other a slave, to the massive power of love, and waited eagerly for a little touch or communication with her. Of course, he talked with her at long last, promised her to bring a gift from Araby and eagerly waited for the time to accomplish his promise. By the side of this yearning, there was also another longing, his deep longing to go to Araby, the fete, which was a place of romance and beauty to him. He obtained his uncles permission after fixing a date for going to Araby. This vision of Araby seemed to dazzle before him and tempt him. He waited for the day of his visit and considered all his day-to-day occupations as unnecessary interruptions towards his goal of life. Indeed, Mangans sister and Araby gleemed before the boy as the Holy Grail of the Grail legend which had prompted the chivalrous knights in the Middle Ages to undertake perilous journeys. His young and undeveloped mind was equally fascinated and like the medieval knights, he waited and waited for that which he could never possess nor relish. This story indeed records the longing, the lingering, theShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Sisters and An Encounter1210 Words   |  5 PagesEncounter, Araby is about a somewhat introverted boy fumbling toward adulthood with little in the way of guidance from family or community. The truants in An Encounter managed A young boy who is similar in age and temperament to those in â€Å"The Sisters† and â€Å"An Encounter† develops a crush on Mangan’s sister, a girl who lives across the street. One evening she asks him if he plans to go to a bazaar (a fair organized, probably by a church, to raise money for charity) called Araby. 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Yet deeper down it is about a lonely boy who makes a pilgrimage to an eastern-styled bazaar in hopes that it will somehow alleviate his miserable life. James Joyce’s uses the boy in â€Å"Araby† to expose a story of isolation andRead MoreA Look At The Themes Of Home1742 Words   |  7 Pagesleave; they attempt to move forward and advance, but ultimately return against their better wishes. As it was for the narrator in Araby, who failed to get a present from an Arabian bazaar, and ultimately returned home with a newfound truth that left him bereft. Upon his leave of the bazaar, the narrator feels changed to â€Å"a creature driven and derided by vanity.†(Araby, 19) The illusion of the bazaar, and the girl he promised the gift to, collapse. He returns home feeling emptier than before, as Joyce