James Joyce: "Araby"

• James Joyce (1882-1941)

• Joyce’s fiction, particularly The Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man (1916) and
Ulysses (1922) helped shape much twentieth-century literature, especially his
use of an almost documentary realism and his psychological insights which he
dramatizes through his pioneering use of the technique of the stream-of-
consciousness, a technique especially valuable for communicating the inner
life of a character. Joyce also applied the religious term epiphany to the
sudden, illuminating experience of his main character. This concept involves
the belief that there should somehow be a revelation or a sudden insight
which may come to a character or to the reader or both, and that this insight
will come through some symbolic action of the character.
James Joyce: "Araby"
• James Joyce, in full James Augustine Aloysius Joyce, (born February 2,
1882, Dublin, Ireland—died January 13, 1941, Zürich, Switzerland), Irish
novelist noted for his experimental use of language and exploration of
new literary methods in such large works of fiction as Ulysses (1922) and
Finnegans Wake (1939).
• Early life
• Joyce, the eldest of 10 children in his family to survive infancy, was sent at
age six to Clongowes Wood College, a Jesuit boarding school that has been
described as “the Eton of Ireland.” But his father was not the man to stay
affluent for long; he drank, neglected his affairs, and borrowed money
from his office, and his family sank deeper and deeper into poverty.
James Joyce: "Araby"
• He moved to Paris after graduation in 1902 to pursue medical school,
but instead he turned his attention to writing.
• In 1903 he returned to Dublin, where he met his future wife, Nora
Barnacle, the following year. From then on, Joyce made his home in
other countries. From 1905 to 1915 he and Nora lived in Rome and
Trieste, Italy, and from 1915 to 1919 they lived in Zurich, Switzerland.
Between World War I and World War II, they lived in Paris. They
returned to Zurich in 1940, where Joyce died in 1941.
James Joyce: "Araby"
• James Joyce based Araby on his own experiences as an adolescent
resident of Dublin in 1894, when Ireland was chafing under British
rule. Like the fictional narrator of Araby, Joyce lived on North
Richmond Street (No. 17) in the central part of the city. He was also
undergoing a period of self-discovery. However, unlike the narrator,
Joyce was not an orphan. In Araby Joyce presents Dublin as a bleak
city struggling against oppressive forces. The climactic scene takes
place in South Dublin, across the River Liffey from central Dublin, at a
bazaar in a large building. Such a bazaar—billed as Araby: a Grand
Oriental Fête (or as “A Grand Oriental Fête: Araby in Dublin”) was
actually held in Dublin between May 14 and May 19, 1894, to benefit a
local hospital.
James Joyce: "Araby"
• The nameless narrator of the story talks about life on North Richmond
Street. The former tenant of their apartment was a priest who died.
Some books have been left behind, and the young boy narrator
sometimes looks at them. He is raised by his aunt and uncle. One of
his playmates is a boy named Mangan, and the narrator develops a
crush on Mangan’s sister. Mangan and his sister live in a building
across the street. The sister often comes to the front of their house to
call the brother, a moment that the narrator savors. The narrator
watches her stealthily, waiting for her to leave in the mornings so that
he can follow her on part of his way to school.
James Joyce: "Araby"
• One day, Mangan’s sister finally speaks to him. She asks if he will go to
Araby, a Dublin bazaar .She cannot attend, because she is going on a
religious retreat that weekend. Having recovered from the shock of
the conversation, the narrator offers to bring her something from the
bazaar. He gets permission to go, and for days he cannot concentrate.
On the morning of the bazaar, the narrator reminds his uncle that he
plans to attend the event so that the uncle will return home early and
provide train fare.
James Joyce: "Araby"
• That night, his uncle is late. The boy despairs of being able to go at all,
but finally his uncle comes home. His uncle has forgotten about the
bazaar, and by now it is quite late. But the boy still wants to go, and
he takes the small sum of money for the train and heads off. He
arrives at the bazaar just as it is closing. Only a few stalls are open. He
approaches one stall that is still open, but buys nothing, feeling
unwanted by the woman watching over the goods. With no purchase
for Mangan’s sister, the narrator stands angrily in the deserted bazaar
as the lights go out.
James Joyce: "Araby"
• SETTING
• North Richmond Street
• The place where the unnamed boy lives with his uncle and aunt. The
setting of the place is being described with negative adjective. “The
other houses of the street, conscious of decent lives within them,
gazed at one another with brown imperturbable faces.”
• Araby: The Arabian theme bazaar. The place where the boy wants to
get something to Mangan’s sister. He finally realizing how naïve he
was about the trip. “Nearly all the stalls were closed and the greater
part of the hall was in darkness. I recognized a silence like that which
pervades a church after a service.”
James Joyce: "Araby"
• CHARACTERS
• The unnamed boy:
• The narrator of the story.
• Lives with his uncle and aunt.
• Become infatuated with Mangan’s sister.
• Naïve and immature.
• romantic feeling towards Mangan’s sister bring him to the bazaar.
James Joyce: "Araby"
• CHARACTERS
• The boy’s uncle and aunt:
• The boy’s guardians.
• The relationship between the boy and his uncle and aunt is not close.
They don’t understand why it’s so for the boy to get to Araby.
• Mangan’s sister:
• A girl to whom the boy is attracted.
• The person that gives hope to the boy to escape from his dull life.
James Joyce: "Araby"
• CHARACTERS
• The boy’s uncle and aunt:
• The boy’s guardians.
• The relationship between the boy and his uncle and aunt is not close.
They don’t understand why it’s so for the boy to get to Araby.
• Mangan’s sister:
• A girl to whom the boy is attracted.
• The person that gives hope to the boy to escape from his dull life.
James Joyce: "Araby"
• Plot
• Exposition
• We were introduce with the character, the author describe boy’s living
area. The author described the house where it was the boy’s play ground
and where the priest had died. Basically, the author talked about how
boring the boy’s life is. Joyce also describe the boy’s crush. He always
wanted to talk to her, he remember her figure and always spying on her
(every morning I lay on the floor in the front parlour watching her door.
The blind was pulled down to within an inch of the sash so that i could not
be seen). This shows that he is so obsessed with her. The author also told
us that the boy “had never spoken to her”. “The boy is physically attracted
to her, and does not know how to respond, so naturally, his heart guides
him towards admiring her from a distance”.
James Joyce: "Araby"
• RISING ACTION
• Finally the girl talked to him. He did not know what to say. When he
finally gets to speak with the girl, ask him if he would/can go to Araby.
“The boy forgot whether he said yes or no probably because at the
time it wasn’t important to him”.
• The girl said it will be a splendid bazaar and she really wanted to go
but she had to retreat that week in her convent. The boy told her if he
go to Araby, he would buy her something. The boy was not only
exited to go to Araby but he can’t wait for it. He wishes that time flies
fast. The boy also reminded his uncle that he wished to go to Araby.
James Joyce: "Araby"
• CLIMAX
• He waited for his uncle to come home for some money. He waited so
long and become restless for his uncle to come back home.
(Wondered whether he will go or not). When his uncle finally arrived
home, he asked him for some money for the bazaar but his uncle
forgot about it. His aunt backs him up and forces him to give some
money. He was so happy that he finally can go to Araby. After an
intolerable delay of the train, he arrived at the bazaar.
James Joyce: "Araby"
• FALLING ACTION
• When he arrives, he quickly walk around fast because he was afraid
that the stores may be closed. He soon finds out that “nearly all the
stores are closed and the greater part of the hall was in darkness”.
We see him realize that the bazaar is near over, and how he yet again
missed something he had desperately waited for.
James Joyce: "Araby"
• Denouement
• Araby was not what the boy expected. When he was in one of the
stall, the lady of the stall great him with a rude voice tone. He was not
pleased with it because he was hoping that the people there are
going to treat him nicely. He also believed that Araby would be a
magical place(multiculturalism) but to his disappointment, “but he
only experiences something he sees very often in his hometown of
Dublin, Ireland. He realized that it was a mistake for not thinking
wisely about going to Araby. He did not plan his trip. He just follows
his heart. At the end, he was embarrassed with himself because of his
silly mistake.
James Joyce: "Araby"
• THEMES
• ENDLESS WAITING
• This story shows the boy’s endless waiting. First, he patiently waits for
the girl he likes every day. He waits for her every morning, watching
her through the blinds, and even follow her in the mornings. “ the
blind was pulled down to within an inch of the sash so that I could not
be seen” (line 36) “I ran to the hall, seized my books and followed her.
I kept her brown figure always in my eye and, when we came near the
point at which our ways diverged, I quickened my pace and passed
her. This happened morning after morning” (line 37- 40)
James Joyce: "Araby"
• THEMES
• FRUSTRATION
• The story started with the boy description of his neighborhood. He is
frustrated with his surrounding; the place he lives. He is not happy except
for one thing, Mangan’s sister. The only thing that makes his life livelier is
his thoughts and his romantic imagination about spending time with her. 
Frustration also by how the boy had a crush towards Mangan’s sister but
he had no chance of showing it to her. The moment the girl said he
couldn’t go to the bazaar, he told her that he will buy something for her if
he go to the bazaar. He is overwhelmed with the idea of giving her
something nice from ‘Araby’. He waited for all day before he could finally
go to the bazaar. He was frustrated that his uncle was late and he had
forgotten about him wanted to go to the bazaar.
James Joyce: "Araby"
• THEMES
• LOVE
• This story mainly focuses on love that the boy had on his friend’s
sister. He described his neighborhood as gloomy, dull and he find no
excitement there. However, Mangan’s sister is what makes him happy,
and what makes his “heart leap.” This implies that she is what makes
him happy. The boy is physically attracted to Mangan’s sister as he
had actually never spoken to her and does not know what kind of
person she is. He is admiring her towards from a distance. The first
time she spoke to him, he couldn’t even remember what he answer
he had given her. At this time he is emotionally cling to her every
word. “ I forgot whether I answered yes or no” (line 66)
• “Araby” is the third story in a collection of stories entitled Dubliners, a
collection of fifteen short stories in which Joyce intended to portray the
intellectual, moral, and spiritual paralysis that he felt pervaded modern
life, particularly modern Irish life. The characters struggle with
oppressive morality, restless desires, and frail gestures toward freedom.
These stories contain no high drama or action-filled episodes. Instead,
they are made up of small, quiet moments that turn out to be
important in their characters' lives. Heroic action seemed remote and
theatrical to Joyce, and he rejected the use of remarkable historic
events in his fiction, preferring instead to focus on the everyday lives of
ordinary people trying to make sense of themselves.
• The point of view of “Araby” is that of an adult looking back on a
maturing experience of his youth which occurred when he was
perhaps eleven, twelve, or thirteen. At the beginning of the story the
boy sees himself on a religious or spiritual quest. Mangan’s sister
represents a kind of an angel to him, and he believes himself her
protector and servant. The religious imagery throughout the story
indicates his grandiose view of himself and the significance of his
quest to buy her a gift from the bazaar that she cannot attend. One of
the main contrasts in the story is between the banal world of actual
experience and the romantic world of the narrator’s imagination, an
opposition between reality and fantasy that continues throughout.
• The final sentence constitutes the boy’s epiphany, when he realizes the
absurdity of both Araby and his quest. The “blind” or deadened street on
which he lived foreshadowed his trip to Araby, that is, both the street and
the trip to Araby seemed to be leading somewhere, but in effect lead him
back where he began. He realizes that he must give up both Araby and his
quest and confront the truth of his existence. His eyes burn because it
hurts to acknowledge that a false vision and hope has dominated his
recent life. Now he must return home dreamless, but enlightened and
more mature, with perhaps a commitment to himself to be more
perceptive about life and more truthful with himself. Symbolically, the
lights go out on the bazaar, on Mangan’s sister, and on his romantic vision.
SYMBOLISM

• THE BAZAAR
• The boy saw Araby as the eastern enchantment.  Symbolizes the
dullness and hopelessness of Ireland that has been dominated by
English for centuries  They cant escape, even if the east come to him
in the form of Araby, the British still there too (English men)  The boy
ends up buying nothing.
• NORTH RICHMOND STREET BEING BLIND.
• Blind street means a dead end, this is the place where James Joyce
grew up.
SYMBOLISM

• THE DEAD PRIEST

• The priest is the icon of a good man  When the priest dies, it symbolizes
the country has no hope left. They will always be dominated by The
British.
• MANGAN'S SISTER
• The name is not mentioned in this story. This symbolizes the dream that
will never comes true.
• LIGHT FROM THE WINDOW
• The author use light from the window which is so dim. It symbolizes that
there is just a little hope for the boy.