Araby

The short story “Araby” by James Joyce is a story of love and realization. The story is set in the dark inconspicuous North Richmond Street. The story opens with images of the protagonist, a boy, playing with his friends during winter. The narrator, who is the boy, goes on to reveal his crush on a neighbourhood girl whom he admires to the extent that he thinks about her even in public places. The boy’s one-sided love takes a turn when the girl speaks with him causing him to believe that she might actually love him. However, the boy’s dream is crushed by the harsh reality. The boy realizes that the girl might have spoken to him just out of manners. This truth dawns upon him when he sees a shop clerk who asks him if he wanted anything. The boy realizes that the clerk had just asked him out of a sense of duty. All the events that lead to his realization are representations of the true nature of life. The bubble, in which the boy lived, burst open due the reality of life, here being the incident of the shop clerk. The coming of age is always triggered by an incident that represents reality and is followed by disappointment and anger. The so-called coming of age can occur only when a person comprehends the truth about life. This ability to comprehend comes with experience and is known as “maturity”.

It was when I was sixteen. All my teachers said that I was an immature kid. “Charan learn from your seniors. Your actions are so immature. Grow up Charan”. I was left trying to comprehend those words that did not make sense to me at that time until one day. My class was going to presenting a drama in an auditorium. I was my usual self, arrogant, overconfident and energetic. The day came and I approached the stage. Then something very strange happened. I did not know why but my hands were shivering, my whole body was undergoing a change; my legs began to tremble, the contents of my stomach began to swirl; I started having a strange sensation near my temples where my head started to pulsate with every beat of my heart. A cold sensation broke out on my fore head; little drops started dripping. The silk I wore played with my chest sending me to my limit. I did not know if I could bear with this feeling. The multitude of the crowd was remarkable. A congregation of 10,000; I had to sing with a group in front of this monstrously large crowd. My eyes were unable to take the sight of thousands of heads looking at me. Thousands of eyes stared at me, I could not bear to look into them, and then all of a sudden my eyes locked on to a pair of blue eyes. I tried to revert my gaze but however hard I tried, I could not remove my gaze from those eyes. However, I gained comfort from looking at them. I wanted to continue looking into those eyes. All the tension in my body started to disappear. I wanted the reel of life to pause at this point. Thoughts started to creep into my head. I wanted to stare at those eyes forever. I wanted to be with that person. My string of thoughts broke from want seemed like an explosion. People were clapping. It felt magnificent. Then I lost sight of those eyes. I was ready to do anything for those eyes. I heard my classmate calling. It was time to leave the stage. I was in distress; I could not find those eyes. I wanted to see who that person was. Tears welled up. I did not know why suddenly I felt ashamed of myself. I was crying for a person who was a stranger, whose face I did not