Araby by James Joyce.docx

7/27/2019 Araby by James Joyce.docx

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Araby by James JoyceAraby by James Joyce

SummaryThe story Araby conveys the

idea that the personal feelings

of a person and the real world

are two different things. First,

we do not understand this

difference but when we come

to understand that, we are

disillusioned. Then we are sad.The narrator of the story is a


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schoolboy and lives with his

uncle. He plays with hiscompanions in the street until

dusk and then they return their

homes.Mangan is his playmate. He

falls in love with his sister.

However, he cannot express

his love to her. He keeps

looking at her from a distance.

He keeps on thinking about her

all the time. Her image is

always before his eyes. He is


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very intense in his love. Tears

fill his eyes but he does notknow why.

Once she talks to him and asks

him to go to Araby. Araby is abazaar. He promises that he

will bring something for her if

he goes there. Now going to

Araby becomes his business.

He takes permission to go. He

waits for the appointed day

impatiently. Now everything

appears to him unimportant


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and a childs play.

On the appointed day, heleaves for Araby very late with

a very little money. He goes to

a shop, looks at things.However, he cannot buy

anything because of his little

money. He repents on his

promise and his eyes burn with

anger and anguish. (235)

1. With reference toAraby, discuss the


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intensity of the schoolboyslove.Describe narrators attitude

towards Mangans sister.The schoolboy is a passionatelover. Discuss.

James Joyce shows theeffect of love on its victims.The writer has described the

intensity of the schoolboys

love at various places in the

story. From his description, the

schoolboy appears to be a


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passionate lover. We also

come to know the effect of loveon its victims.

The schoolboy is a teenager.

He loves Mangans sister verypassionately, but he cannot

express it. Therefore, he looks

at her from a distance without

saying anything. He wants to

be around her. At school time

as soon as she comes out of

her house, he takes his books,

rushes out and follows her


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without letting her know. The

narrator says, I had neverspoken to her, except for a few

casual words, and yet her

name was like a summons toall my foolish blood. He keeps

on thinking about her even in

the classroom. Her image

comes between him and the

pages he tries to read.

He keeps on thinking about her

even in the market. He is so

intense in his love that he


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cannot understand his prayers

and praises for her. He cannotunderstand why his eyes are

full of tears. He says about his

condition: But my body waslike a harp and her words and

gestures were like fingers

running upon the wires.

Sometimes he wants to get rid

of his senses too. He usually

murmurs O love! O love!

Sometimes form the window of

his house he looks at her


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house. He had become so

much intense in his love thatnow her image is always

before his eyes.

Therefore, we see the intensityof the schoolboys lover. His

love had become his whole

business. This is the effect of

love on its victims. (280)

2. What were feelings ofMangans sister for thenarrator and what did shetalk to him?


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The narrator used to watch

Mangans sister from adistance. She used to come at

the doorstep of her house to

call Mangan to his idea. Hewatched her in fascination.

Slowly he started liking her. On

the other hand, she was

unaware of his liking. She did

not pay any special attention to

him.

No doubt, she talked to him

once but she did not talk about


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anything except Araby. Her

talking proves tht she wascompletely unaware. The

narrator of the story was

confused when she talked tohim. He did not know what to

answer. However, she was

quite normal. She asked him if

he was going to Araby. She

further told him that Araby

would be s splendid bazaar

and she would like to go there.

The narrator asked her why


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she could not go to Araby. She

answered that she could not goto Araby because there would

be a retreat that week in her

convent.When she was talking, the

narrator was looking at her in

fascination. He was looking at

her neck, hand, and dress that

were lighted by the light. She

said that if he went to Araby, it

would be good for him. She

meant to say that he would


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enjoy there. The narrator

promised her that if he wentthere he would bring something

for her. After that, their talk

ended and they departed.(234)

3. Write a note on themental condition of theschoolboy after his talk withMangans sister.Why were the schoolboys

teachers annoyed with theschoolboy?


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After his talk with Mangans

sister, he started thinking aboutAraby all the time. He thought

about that not only during

daytime but also in his dreams.He was so impatient that he

could not wait. He wanted to go

to Araby at once.

He was to go on the next

Saturday and a few days were

left. He wanted to destroy

these few days to go to Araby.

He lost interest in everything


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else. Now he was annoyed

with his schoolwork. Even inthe classroom, he thought

about her. Her image came

between him and the pages hetried to read. He answered a

few questions in the classroom.

Before that, his teacher used to

like him. Now he was very strict

with him and thought that he

was becoming idle.

He remained so absorbed in

his thoughts that he could not


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concentrate on his studies. He

had no patience for his workbecause he could not go to

Araby because of this work.

Now his class work seemed tohim childs play.

When he was, alone he

recalled the syllable of the

world Araby. As Araby was an

eastern word, he thought he

was under eastern

enchantment. He asked for

leave to go to Araby on


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Saturday. (209)

4. How did the schoolboybehave on Saturday whenhe was to go to Araby?Describe his feelings.

The writer has described the

feelings of the narrator soon

before leaving for Araby very

beautifully.

On Saturday, he was very

restless and impatient. He

wanted to go at once.

Nevertheless, he had to wait


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the whole day. He had to go to

school and he had to wait forhis uncles return. Before

leaving for school, he reminded

his uncle that he wished to goto Araby that day. He was not

in a good mood when he left.

His uncle did not return until

dinnertime. He wanted money

from him. Therefore, he had to

wait.

First, he sat staring at the

clock. When its ticking began


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to irritate him, he left the room.

He went upstairs. He wasfeeling cold and gloomy. He

went from one room to another

singing. From the front window,he saw his companions

playing. He looked at the dark

house of the girl. He started

imagining that the girl was

standing and before him. He

saw light touching her neck,

her hand, and her dress. He

stood there for an hour.


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Then he came down. He saw

Mrs. Mercer sitting at the fire.She had come to see his uncle.

He was so impatient that he did

not want to talk to her.When she left, he started

walking up and down the room.

At nine Oclock, his uncle

returned home. At the dinner

table, he asked for money. His

uncle said in a funny way that

people were in their beds and

after their first sleep. However,


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the boy did not enjoy the joke

and did not smile. His auntasked his uncle to give him the

money and let him go. His

uncle gave him one florin andstarted reading a poem, but he

did not listen to it and started

for Araby. (302)

5. Describe the schoolboysdeparture, feelings and visitto Araby in your own simpleEnglish.

The narrators visit to Araby


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proved useless because he

could not buy anything for thegirl. Therefore, he was very

disappointed and angry and his

eyes burned with anguish.He got one florin from his uncle

and went to the station. He was

in a state of absent-

mindedness. He got a seat in a

third class carriage. The train

was deserted because there

were no passengers. He

wanted to reach Araby very


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soon but the train left very late.

It was a special train for Arabyso the porters did not let the

crowd of people gets into the

train. He remained alone in thecarriage.

When he reached Araby it was

ten minutes to ten. Therefore,

he was too late. He entered the

bazaar by handling a shilling to

a weary looking man. Most of

the shops and stalls were

close. The boy went to an open


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stall and looked at vases and

tea sets. Three shop assistantswere arguing. A young lady

came over to him and asked

what he wanted to buy.Perhaps he had read the prices

written on the vases. He had

come to know that he did not

have enough money, so he told

her that he did not want to buy

anything. He was very much

disappointed now. He stayed at

the stall for some time and then


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turned away.

Now the upper part of the hallwas completely dark. He

touched the little money in his

pocket. He had realized hisfoolishness. He should not

have promised the girl to bring

something for her. Therefore,

his eyes burnt with anger and

anguish. (270)

6. The schoolboy of thestory Araby is therepresentative of the


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adolescence. Discuss.The schoolboy is therepresentative of his class.

Discuss.No doubt, the schoolboy of thestory Araby represents the

adolescence. It is an age when

boys are not mature. They are

inexperienced and sentimental.

They do not know anything

about the bitter realities of life.

To them their subjective world

is everything. They want such


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things as are out of their reach.

However, they do not come toknow their real position until

they are face-to-face wit bitter

realities.We see that the boy or the

protagonist is just like that. He

is immature and inexperienced

and only a schoolboy. He is

sentimental too. He falls in

love, but does not know how to

express it. He looks at his

beloved in fascination from a


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distance. He keeps on thinking

about her not only at night butalso during the daytime. He

remembers her when he is in

his classroom and even whenhe goes to market with his

aunt. Her image always

remains before his eyes. His

eyes are full of tears and he

does not know why he is

weeping. Now the serious work

of life seems to him childs

play.


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He does not know anything

about the bitter realities of life.He promises to the girl that he

would bring something for her.

He forgets that he depends onhis uncle and he does not have

any money with him. He does

not realize that until he stands

at the shop and perhaps sees

the high prices of things written

on them. Now he is face to

face with the bitter realities of

life. He comes to know that he


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has very little money and with

that money, he cannot buyanything for the girl. (279)

7. How does the schoolboycome to know that he iswrong and he should nothave promised to bringsomething for the girl?Why is the protagonist angry

at the end of the story and whydo his eyes burn with anguish?Araby describes a conflictbetween the subjective feeling


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of the protagonist and theobjective world.What is the disillusionmentof the schoolboy or theprotagonist?Discuss the narratorsmental condition and the gapbetween his hopes and theirfulfillment.Conflict is a state of

disagreement between

opposing ideas. When we read

the story Araby carefully, we


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find that two opposing ideas

have been presented. The firstidea is schoolboys subjective

feelings and the second idea is

his objective or real world.There is a conflict between the

personal feelings of a person

and the real world.

The boy falls in love with his

friends sister. To him his

subjective feeling of love is the

only reality. All the other things

have no importance for him. To


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him the serious work of live is a

childs play. He keeps onthinking about her all the time.

Even when he goes to market,

he thinks about her.In the classroom, he cannot

pay attention to his studies.

Nothing is important for him

now. He usually weeps without

knowing why he is weeping. He

promises to buy a gift for the

girl. These are the subjective

feelings of the boy. This is his


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illusion. His objective world is

that he is just a schoolboy.Perhaps he is an orphan too.

His uncle is his patron. He

should not have promised thegirls to bring something for her.

He cannot buy anything for her

because he himself is

dependent on his uncle.

Therefore, we see that there is

a big disagreement between

his subjective feelings and

objective world.


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It is only at the end of the story

that he comes to know what heis and what he should not have

done. He is disillusioned. With

his little money, he cannot buyanything for her. It was his

vanity when he promised to

bring something for her. It is

the sense of reality that makes

his eyes burn with anguish and

anger. (289)

8. What is the theme of thestory Araby?


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The theme of the story Araby

is that the subjective feelings ofa person and the objective

world are two opposing things.

There is no agreementbetween them. First, we do not

understand this disagreement,

but later we come to

understand that, and we are

disillusioned. Then we are sad

and dejected.

When we read the story

carefully, we see the subjective


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feelings of a schoolboy. He is

in love with his frieds sister. Tohim his subjective feeling of

love is the only reality. All other

things have no importance forhim. To him the serious work of

life is childs play. He keeps on

thinking about her all the time.

Even when he goes to market,

he thinks about her. In the

classroom, he cannot pay

attention to his studies. Nothing

is important for him now. He


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usually weeps without knowing

why he is weeping. These arethe subjective feelings of the

boy. This is his illusion.

His objective world is that he isjust schoolboy. Perhaps he is

an orphan too. His uncle is his

patron. He should not have

promised the girls that he

would bring something or her.

He cannot bring anything for

her, because he is himself

dependent on his uncle.


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We see that is a great

disagreement between hissubjective feelings and the

objective world. First, he does

not understand thisdisagreement, but later he

comes to understand that and

he is disillusioned. Then he is

sad and dejected.

It happens to all of us.

Sometimes we wish for such

things as are out of our reach.

We keep on thinking about


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them, but at the end, we are

disillusioned. (277)9. What are symbolic

meanings of the desertedtrain and dark bazaar in thestory Araby?

The deserted train and the dark

bazaar have great symbolic

meanings in the story Araby.

The deserted train is one of the

means that can take him to his

most serious place Araby. It

also symbolizes gloom and a


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kind of disappointment that the

schoolboy is going to face.Writers always set the situation

for the end of the story. The

setting of story always foretellsthe end of the story. If the end

is pleasant, the writer always

talks about light, day, and good

things. If the end is tragic, the

writer always talks about night,

darkness, cold, gloom, death

and other bad things.

Therefore, the desertedness of


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the train, its delay, and

slowness all symbolize thetragic end and the

disappointment that the boy is

going to face.The dark bazaar symbolizes

the narrators ignorance. He

promises to the girl that he will

bring something for her from

Araby. He does not know that

he cannot buy a gift for the girl

with his little money. Therefore,

the darkness of the bazaar


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shows his ignorance. The

darkness of bazaar alsosymbolizes the bitter realities of

life. It is a reality that he is

immature and inexperiencedand does not know anything

about the power of money.

Therefore, by looking into the

darkness, he realizes his

foolishness. This darkness also

symbolizes that we cannot

fulfill all wishes. Various things

that are out of our reach and


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we cannot get them.

Therefore, we see that thedeserted train and the dark

bazaar are highly symbolic.

(255)

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