Araby Short Story by James Joyce

Introduction

After a close examination of the short story “Araby” by James Joyce, several instances of religious symbolism seem to be intertwined throughout the story. The story unfolds from the viewpoint of a young child while simultaneously raising moral questions representative of a much more mature Joyce. This enlightened perspective allows for some very intricate examples of symbolism. Although the symbolism can be observed on two very different levels, the primary goal of this essay shall be to explore the symbolism as seen through the eyes of Joyce as an adult.

This symbolism is painted with religious overtones that evidently stem from Joyce’s adolescence. Through the use of symbolism, James Joyce raises many questions concerning his childhood, while also telling the story of a young boy’s journey from romance to despair and disillusionment brought about by a young girl’s unintentional taunts.

Discussion

“Araby”, in its simplest form is the story of a young boy’s first experience concerning infatuation with the opposite sex. Although, lurking under this inconspicuous facade are questions that plagued Joyce throughout his life. These questions primarily concern Joyce’s rearing in Catholicism and the beliefs the church encouraged in opposition to his true feelings. This moral dilemma is expressed through symbolism that occurs in several interactions between the story’s central character and the world around him. In the opening line of the story, Joyce describes the street he lives on as “being blind”(Vesterman 7).

This lack of sight indicates that the street is a dead end. He goes on to describe the houses occupying its sides as “gazed(ing) at one another with brown imperturbable faces”(Vesterman 7). These houses reflect the attitudes of their inhabitants, who seem satisfied and content with their lives. The unchanging people seem as though they are strictly Catholic and extremely set in their ways. These people represent everything that the boy questions because, naturally, he is apprehensive in accepting completely the lifestyle that these people exhibit. After all, there must be a world beyond North Richmond Street.

The former tenant of the boy’s house was a priest. The boy describes the rooms in the house, as well as the room the priest died in, saying, “Air, musty from having been long enclosed, hung in all the rooms, and the waste room behind the kitchen was littered with old useless papers”(Vesterman 8). This gloominess represents what Joyce probably would have felt like if he had remained on North Richmond all his life. Joyce describes the boys playing in the street, which is symbolic of the children’s lack to conform to the spiritual confines of the church, unlike the adults who are trapped in North Richmond. This point is conveyed further by the aunt and uncle’s lack of enthusiasm concerning the boys’ trip to Araby.

There seems to be an eerie shadow cast on the boy’s trials and tribulations throughout the story by his lack of clarity concerning the grand scheme of life. Joyce often describes many things in the boy’s life as being dark. He has the boy say that “The career of our play brought us through the dark muddy lanes,” and he introduces a landscape of “dark odorous stables” and “the

dark dripping gardens”(Vesterman 7). These murky descriptions convey how dark the boy’s world seems, and that he is seeking out some sort of light. The first search for light materializes in the boy’s description of the “central apple tree” in the gardens behind his home. The apple tree in the garden could be interpreted to serve as Eden’s garden and the bareness of the back yard garden seems to reflect the bareness in his own Garden of Eden.

The next example of downfalls the boy associates with religion are the possessions left by the priest. A few yellowed books, donations to institutions, furniture, and a rusty bicycle pump, represent all that the priest left on earth with one special exception: no evidence of a spiritual legacy remains. The central theme associated with what the priest has left behind is that all the items have rusted or in some way have been tarnished. The decay of the priest’s possessions raises another important religious question: Is religion, in fact, the real possession that is everlasting? This uncertainty further confuses the boy and fuels his desire to seek light in his world of darkness.

The introduction of Mangan’s sister marks the beginning of what eventually becomes the young boy’s light. In an attempt to free himself from his world of darkness and despair, the boy seeks to secure a relationship of some sort with the girl. When Mangan’s sister emerges from the house to call her brother in from playing, the boy waits to see if she remains outside or returns inside. “If she remained,” he said, “we left our shadow and walked up to Mangan’s steps resignedly. She was waiting for us, her figure defined from the light of the half-opened door.” His descriptions of the girl allow the reader to gain a sense of his adoration for her, which could serve to represent the altar that he seeks.

The young boy goes on to say, “Her dress swung as she moved her body and the soft rope of her hair tossed from side to side.” He relates their participation in the daily ritual of “lay(ing) on the floor in the front parlor watching her door”(Vesterman 7-8), further elaborating, “When she came out on the front doorstep my heart leaped”(8). The young girl is undoubtedly his object of affection, and perhaps perfection. The boy’s constant infatuation keeps him from concentrating on school or his neighborhood friends, referring to their actions now as “child’s play, ugly monotonous child’s play”(9).

The climax of the story occurs when the boy finally has a conversation with the girl and learns that she would like to go to Araby, a bazaar. In a lapse of judgment, the boy proclaims that “If I go I will bring you something”(8). This trip will be his “pilgrimage” to the Promised Land; it will be the way the boy will win the girl’s affection and in turn, find the light. The next few lines of the story are primarily concerned with delays and obstacles the boy must overcome. These delays further fuel the boy’s flaming desire to retrieve something from the bazaar so that he may receive from Mangan’s sister a mutual feeling of affection.

The falling action of the story occurs when the boy begins his trip to Araby. Upon embarkment, the boy encounters a series of events that eventually results in his epiphany. The train to Araby is deserted and thus sets up his initial feelings of contempt for his own loneliness

Conclusion

When the young character eventually arrives at Araby, a certain chain of events unfold allowing the young boy to see the vanity of his ways. As the boy arrives at Araby, he finds that it is deserted. To him, the ideas of what Araby was supposed to be and what Araby actually is are conflicting. There are three people at the bazaar, two men counting money and a female co-worker they are flirting with. The young woman approaches the boy and asks if he wishes to buy anything. He asserts that she seems to speak to him “out of a sense of duty”(10). A few seconds later the boy realizes the similarities that exist between his infatuation with the girl and his experience at Araby, the last lines of the story illustrate this point to perfection and allows the reader to experience the epiphany with the boy; “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity: and my eyes burned with anguish and anger (11)”.

Get Professional Assignment Help Cheaply

Are you busy and do not have time to handle your assignment? Are you scared that your paper will not make the grade? Do you have responsibilities that may hinder you from turning in your assignment on time? Are you tired and can barely handle your assignment? Are your grades inconsistent?

Whichever your reason is, it is valid! You can get professional academic help from our service at affordable rates. We have a team of professional academic writers who can handle all your assignments.

Why Choose Our Academic Writing Service?

Plagiarism free papers
Timely delivery
Any deadline
Skilled, Experienced Native English Writers
Subject-relevant academic writer
Adherence to paper instructions
Ability to tackle bulk assignments
Reasonable prices
24/7 Customer Support
Get superb grades consistently

Online Academic Help With Different Subjects

Literature

Students barely have time to read. We got you! Have your literature essay or book review written without having the hassle of reading the book. You can get your literature paper custom-written for you by our literature specialists.

Finance

Do you struggle with finance? No need to torture yourself if finance is not your cup of tea. You can order your finance paper from our academic writing service and get 100% original work from competent finance experts.

Computer science

Computer science is a tough subject. Fortunately, our computer science experts are up to the match. No need to stress and have sleepless nights. Our academic writers will tackle all your computer science assignments and deliver them on time. Let us handle all your python, java, ruby, JavaScript, php , C+ assignments!

Psychology

While psychology may be an interesting subject, you may lack sufficient time to handle your assignments. Don’t despair; by using our academic writing service, you can be assured of perfect grades. Moreover, your grades will be consistent.

Engineering

Engineering is quite a demanding subject. Students face a lot of pressure and barely have enough time to do what they love to do. Our academic writing service got you covered! Our engineering specialists follow the paper instructions and ensure timely delivery of the paper.

Nursing

In the nursing course, you may have difficulties with literature reviews, annotated bibliographies, critical essays, and other assignments. Our nursing assignment writers will offer you professional nursing paper help at low prices.

Sociology

Truth be told, sociology papers can be quite exhausting. Our academic writing service relieves you of fatigue, pressure, and stress. You can relax and have peace of mind as our academic writers handle your sociology assignment.

Business

We take pride in having some of the best business writers in the industry. Our business writers have a lot of experience in the field. They are reliable, and you can be assured of a high-grade paper. They are able to handle business papers of any subject, length, deadline, and difficulty!

Statistics

We boast of having some of the most experienced statistics experts in the industry. Our statistics experts have diverse skills, expertise, and knowledge to handle any kind of assignment. They have access to all kinds of software to get your assignment done.

Law

Writing a law essay may prove to be an insurmountable obstacle, especially when you need to know the peculiarities of the legislative framework. Take advantage of our top-notch law specialists and get superb grades and 100% satisfaction.

What discipline/subjects do you deal in?

We have highlighted some of the most popular subjects we handle above. Those are just a tip of the iceberg. We deal in all academic disciplines since our writers are as diverse. They have been drawn from across all disciplines, and orders are assigned to those writers believed to be the best in the field. In a nutshell, there is no task we cannot handle; all you need to do is place your order with us. As long as your instructions are clear, just trust we shall deliver irrespective of the discipline.

Are your writers competent enough to handle my paper?

Our essay writers are graduates with bachelor's, masters, Ph.D., and doctorate degrees in various subjects. The minimum requirement to be an essay writer with our essay writing service is to have a college degree. All our academic writers have a minimum of two years of academic writing. We have a stringent recruitment process to ensure that we get only the most competent essay writers in the industry. We also ensure that the writers are handsomely compensated for their value. The majority of our writers are native English speakers. As such, the fluency of language and grammar is impeccable.

What if I don’t like the paper?

There is a very low likelihood that you won’t like the paper.

Reasons being:

When assigning your order, we match the paper’s discipline with the writer’s field/specialization. Since all our writers are graduates, we match the paper’s subject with the field the writer studied. For instance, if it’s a nursing paper, only a nursing graduate and writer will handle it. Furthermore, all our writers have academic writing experience and top-notch research skills.
We have a quality assurance that reviews the paper before it gets to you. As such, we ensure that you get a paper that meets the required standard and will most definitely make the grade.

In the event that you don’t like your paper:

The writer will revise the paper up to your pleasing. You have unlimited revisions. You simply need to highlight what specifically you don’t like about the paper, and the writer will make the amendments. The paper will be revised until you are satisfied. Revisions are free of charge
We will have a different writer write the paper from scratch.
Last resort, if the above does not work, we will refund your money.

Will the professor find out I didn’t write the paper myself?

Not at all. All papers are written from scratch. There is no way your tutor or instructor will realize that you did not write the paper yourself. In fact, we recommend using our assignment help services for consistent results.

What if the paper is plagiarized?

We check all papers for plagiarism before we submit them. We use powerful plagiarism checking software such as SafeAssign, LopesWrite, and Turnitin. We also upload the plagiarism report so that you can review it. We understand that plagiarism is academic suicide. We would not take the risk of submitting plagiarized work and jeopardize your academic journey. Furthermore, we do not sell or use prewritten papers, and each paper is written from scratch.

When will I get my paper?

You determine when you get the paper by setting the deadline when placing the order. All papers are delivered within the deadline. We are well aware that we operate in a time-sensitive industry. As such, we have laid out strategies to ensure that the client receives the paper on time and they never miss the deadline. We understand that papers that are submitted late have some points deducted. We do not want you to miss any points due to late submission. We work on beating deadlines by huge margins in order to ensure that you have ample time to review the paper before you submit it.

Will anyone find out that I used your services?

We have a privacy and confidentiality policy that guides our work. We NEVER share any customer information with third parties. Noone will ever know that you used our assignment help services. It’s only between you and us. We are bound by our policies to protect the customer’s identity and information. All your information, such as your names, phone number, email, order information, and so on, are protected. We have robust security systems that ensure that your data is protected. Hacking our systems is close to impossible, and it has never happened.

How our Assignment Help Service Works

1. Place an order

You fill all the paper instructions in the order form. Make sure you include all the helpful materials so that our academic writers can deliver the perfect paper. It will also help to eliminate unnecessary revisions.

2. Pay for the order

Proceed to pay for the paper so that it can be assigned to one of our expert academic writers. The paper subject is matched with the writer’s area of specialization.

3. Track the progress

You communicate with the writer and know about the progress of the paper. The client can ask the writer for drafts of the paper. The client can upload extra material and include additional instructions from the lecturer. Receive a paper.

4. Download the paper

The paper is sent to your email and uploaded to your personal account. You also get a plagiarism report attached to your paper.

PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET A PERFECT SCORE!!!