Setting In The Araby

Setting in The Araby

"Araby" is the story of a boy's first love and his first step into manhood. It is also a picture of a universe that rebels against the ideal and the dream. So, the setting in this story becomes the main object. The setting in "Araby" underlines the theme and the characters by using imagery of light and darkness. The whole point of the story is to show people that many human being often want more than what reality gives them and then they feel disappointed and sometimes heartbroken when they realize that whatever it was they wanted was not going to happen.

The author, James Joyce, through out the story, uses gloomy and unclear references to make the boys reality of living in the town of Araby more dramatic. He uses dark and depressing situations to create the mood. In the opening paragraph of "Araby", North Richmond Street is brought in to us as "being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian Brothers' School set the boys free"(348). Then he talks about another house that is empty. The narrator says that the house is "Detached," from the others on the street, but that, "The other houses on the street, conscious of decent lives within them, gazed at one another with brown imperturbably faces"(348). This of course, creates an image of loneliness and hesitation, for the one empty house. That this house stands in the shadows of the other houses, which are better and calm. Then the narrator talks about the boys house, saying that it was once the home of a very charitable priest who had died in the back drawing-room. The boy goes through the priest's belongings and doesn't damage them but likes the books especially and thinks about the past and the present.

Joyce uses darkness to make the boy's reality more believable through more vivid, precise descriptions. The boy is young and naive and he leads a dull and boring life. Then he changes that into bright light when talking about Mangan's sister. Managan being his friend and being totally oblivious to the fact that his friend likes his older sister. Bright light is used in this story to create an almost-like fairy tale of a world of dreams and illusions. The author uses this bright light when. The boy, being the protagonist, is obsessed with his neighbor's sister and he sees in his mind that he will bring her something beautiful for her from Bazaar. I think that James Joyce brings the light into focus when talking about Mangan's sister to give her a more angel presence. Light in this situation, is used to create a more happy atmosphere.

The ending of the story is filled with descriptions