“Araby” by James Joyce is about a boy living in early 20th century Ireland, who finds his light through a crush he has. In the story, Joyce makes references about the setting of the town in its current state. The town is very quiet and dull. One evening, Araby sees a girl through the light of her half opened door and is instantly love stricken. We can infer from the story that Araby is orphaned and his uncle may be an alcoholic. Being that’s not the most ideal situation, it’s understandable how a person could so easily be overcome by what seems like “love at first sight”. If you take a closer look at the details of imagery and setting you can see, Araby is not in love, he was so overcome by what became his reality; not having parents, living with a drunk uncle, in a place where it may be hard to dream, so to speak; that he formulates a false reality for himself, creating that “light” that was missing from his life.
Powered by:
top
One thought on “Imani Johnson Discussion 1”
I agree with what you’re saying. It’s not that the boy is in love, it’s more like he sees his entire life as a place of darkness so once he sees a light he does his best to cling on to it as much as possible. But in the end, darkness wins. I really like how you explained your thoughts, they were very clear and easy to understand. I just feel really bad for the main character.