Araby by James Joyce

Araby

As we all know, first loves are mood struck upon us like a fever which does not cease until it's fulfilled with one's heart or by the flaring chains of reality. In “Araby”, Jaymes Joyce, the narrator of this rich short story, uses a plentitude of eloquent literary devices to give substance to a little boy and his infatuation towards his friend's sister. These devices will expose the turmoil of the secular and the sacred thoughts of the boy, through the plethora of similes, metaphors, descriptions and symbolism it so fundamentally has to offer us.

Before one analyzes the inner workings of the imaginary, bewildering infatuation of the boy, one must first analyse the setting that Joyce so grimly imposes. We first get slightly uncomfortable when the houses are being personified as “inhabited”, “detached” and with “brown imperturbable faces.” This lifelessness has juxtaposed the life given to the houses. The overwhelming drabness and dullness are consistently substantiated onto the setting with words such as “musty”, “waste”, “littered” and“useless”. Even the youth are depicted as taking refuge within the shadows; almost as if they were ghosts isolated by the aloof reflection of the people living there.

“Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.”( English Standard Version, Rom. 12.2). From the darkness of the “silent street”, the boy was struck by a figure; one which was “defined by light”. This image unintentionally expressed divinity and purity by the halo that in Mangan’s sister through the light of the half-opened door. Overwhelmed by the yearnings of his youthful heart, we see him almost worshipping her: “Yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood.”Furthermore, even once immersed in quotidian life, he finds it alienating. His surroundings were compared as being vulgar and grotesque upon his “chalice”. The cup becomes his emotional purity as if everything became impure, almost unworthy of such emotion. Soon after, he would be swayed to the extent of prayer, “Her name sprang to my lips at moments in strange prayers and praises which I myself did not understand”.This is interpreted as only a state of pure nonplussed romanticism, which is soon complemented by his self-critical thoughts of “confused adoration” and, by the angel depiction of love “My body was like a harp, and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon wires.” A simile is given to express the angelic correlative of the harp, however, what is subtly added is “wires” -- harps have strings. Such manipulation can easily be reflected upon the boy, who we clearly see as being confused and blinded by his enchantment. Right after this scene, our narrator describes a rather phallic scene, where the boy rages war with his sexual impulses almost as if he was torturing himself sexually and spiritually, attempting to “veil” his strong emotions; in essence, the boy was trying to stay pure by restraining from masturbation.

The depiction of Mangan’s sister can go all the way to saying that it iconizes the Virgin Mary, which can quickly be reflected in the imagery, metaphors, and descriptions that Joyce so carefully invokes. The representation of the Virgin Mary can be seen when “her brother and two other boys were fighting for their caps, and I was alone at the railing. She held one of the spikes, bowing her head towards me”. This scene could be extracted directly from the Bible: the Romans gambling Jesus’s garments while he is on the cross and the Virgin Mary being under him prostrated and in grief. (John 19:13, Matthew 27:35) Finally,“the light from the lamp opposite our door caught the white curve of her neck…”, the lighting once again brings out the metaphor of the halo and Mangan’s sister divinity.

The follies of his heart naturally grew more at the climax of the story, where Mangan’s sister finally speaks to him in regards to the upcoming bazaar called Araby that he soon find out she wouldn't be able to attend. His chalice now couldn't quench his thirst and now seeks higher glory towards the Holy Grail with aspirations of completing this for his Madonna. A “quest” in which is driven by the impassioned idea of Araby, which was coaxed by the Middle Eastern conception of an exotic atmosphere. With the long awaited day soon at a grasp, the boy is described as being very impatient and anxious.

To his demise, the story progressively reveals the downfall of his hopes and dreams. Also, we once again get the subtlety of the Virgin Mary within “this night of our Lord”, which is a remark to her reverence. Throughout his journey, he took the train that he describes as being “slow” and