COMMENTARY 2013-14

Cristina Snchez Silva

TOPIC OF ARABY
Araby (attributed something exotic, oriental) is a short story from Dubliners
by James Joyce. This story was published in 1994 with his collection of
Dubliners. The writer of this text, James Joyce is known that an influential
writer. His works were full of allusions about his life and the situation of
Dublin in those years. So, his works is opened to a lot of meanings. In fact, all
his productions on Dubliners are written with the same literary material. He
makes a work where the situation of Ireland was a complete disaster.
Introducing many personal experiences and adding a great deal of senses
(satiric, irony, allusion etc). We maybe thing that Joyce loves the term
Bildungsroman, so he focuses on the psychological and moral growth of its
main character from his or her youth to adulthood . We can also think that the
technique of epiphany is used here. Furthermore, Joyce said the soul of the
commonest object seems to us radiant, and may be manifested through
any chance, word or gesture. This is visible at the time when the boy sees
that he loves her, is enthralled by her and he begins to have feelings that he
never thought.
The frustration of the main character is presented by the single reason that
(such as some works of Dubliners) the plot is about the reach of something
value but finally the plot ends the same way in which it begins.
The main character is a boy, who can be remembering us to Joyces
childhood. He falls in love with the sister of a friend of him. He does not stop
to heed her. But, finally, his deeds to reach the love of the beautiful girl are
impossible because of fate.
If we see the different ways in which this plot is involved by allusions, we can
give several examples. Allusions (like the way of connection with something
external), is present in his story. In fact, the main character that is a
nameless boy, who makes references to the childhood of Joyce (although not
exactly). Well, the plot is acclimated in Dublin, the same way in which Joyce
sees the Irish life and its society.
Joyce makes that the name of the Christian Brothers School such as
religious jail for the same reason he says boys free because maybe those
are not free inside of it. The noun blind is used several times making allusion
not only the way in which the streets are if not the way the Irish society is
submerged, this could be associated with the boys reality. The term gazed is
the contrast to blind and seen. He uses the anthropomorphic meanings.

Books are mentioned such as The Abbot, The Devout Communicant and
The Memoirs of Vidocq, romantic writer, (because in his mission to
achieve his desires the young boy who is quite devout about all) . Joyce
chooses these books for a specially reason which will make an allusion to itself
story.
The apple-tree is in the garden makes reference to the original sin (it occurs
the same in other stories like Eveline), even this is an ironic allusion. The
charitable priest is also a satirical way to talk about the religion and his
components. This theme is important to Joyce because in his life he thinks
that the Romanic church is already dead, although he was in his childhood a a
practicing Catholic for this reason he uses the priest dead in order to typify
the frequent hypocrisy of religion.
The plot is full of allusions, ironies about the society of Ireland, the
experiences of Joyce when he was a child. Joyce makes euphemism for irish
civil unrest. Everything that Joyce tries to transmit the sobriety in which the
character is involved, the obstacles he has and everything that happens to
him. He just has a happy life, everything is almost strange for him and when it
seems that he would find on her, that illusion finally, it makes that he comes
back to starting point.
He idealizes the role of young girl; making emphasizes how he sees her.
Although sometimes he speaks is in sexual (sensual and erotic) way, when he
says but my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like
fingers running upon the wires at the time that he speaks in a romantic
way saying my eyes were often full of tears When he speaks for first time
with her and she says that he can go to the beneficial meeting and going to
Araby. She says to him that she could not go and then he says to her that he
will go there and bring her something. When he waits to his uncle and this
come later he rushes to Araby but he feels ludicrous when he sees that it was
closing , he maybe think that is a material way to reach her love and decides
to come back home. So, here Joyce makes the same with The Dead or
Eveline studies intrinsically to the character and tries to show everything
that the character feels and thinks. The frustration and the immature on the
character is clearly fixed.
As the majority of Joyces stories, this just happens anything, the plot only is
an object to reach something that finally, never will happen.

Some resources:

http://literarydevices.net/ , http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Joyce,
http://www.mendele.com/WWD/WWDaraby.notes.html