“Araby” by James Joyce is a story about a boy whose life is dreary and void of joy and human connection. When describing the street on which the boy lives, the narrator mentions the “dark muddy lanes”, the “dark dripping gardens where odours arose from the ashpits” and the “dark odorous stables”. This paints a very bleak world for the boy and he becomes fascinated with things associated with light and color. He fantasizes about things that seem exotic, outside of the cold, dim life he knows. Mangan’s sister becomes the focus of his attention and thinks of her constantly, always picturing her in light or color. He then begins to think of Araby in this same fashion and obsesses about attending the bazaar.
We also learn that the boy lives with his aunt and uncle, which gives the impression that he may have been orphaned or abandoned. Very few characters in the story have names, especially those closest to him, such as his aunt and uncle, the girl that he is infatuated with, and even the boy himself. This shows that he is possibly lonely and not connected to others in a close, meaningful sense.
By the end of the story, the boy has a grim realization that going to Araby was not the exciting experience for which he had been hoping. The conclusion of the story creates a very sad feeling of a young man yearning for some light, love or happiness in his life, but who is met with disappointment and regret for being hopeful.
4 thoughts on “Lisa Durante Discussion 5”
Hi Lisa,
You were so right to mention the lack of names in the story. It reflects how detached the narrator really is, it feels like he is surrounded by figures who play a role that are significant to him only, instead of whole people with lives and personalities of their own.
Hi Lisa. I enjoyed reading your take on the story as it is one of the few that highlights something besides just the boy’s obsession with his crush. He’s living with his aunt and uncle, and the lack of character names in the story makes it seem very impersonal. I think the whole story starts with the boy in a fairly bleak situation and then gets his hopes up and drops him off a cliff.
Your interpretation about the setting and characters really describes what is happening in the story. The boy might have been living in a colorless neighborhood for a long time and that’s the reason causes him to eagerly pursue light and color. The girl is probably the only one whom the boy can see light and hope from, since every time the behavior of her seem to accompany with light. Also, they boy may be an orphan as you say from the clue that he has been living with his aunt and uncle, and that can be a reason that he desires love and being loved.
Hey Lisa Durante, I liked how you received lots of information about the narrators life and what he is trying to say/ show in the article. I feel like the narrator isn’t too affiliated with everyone too because of how names were not mentioned. Some of what you got was far different from me. To be honest I did not think much about it, but you brought in a whole other perspective of a gloomy.