Alienation of “araby”
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Alienation of “Araby”
Although “Araby” is a fairly short story, author James Joyce does a remarkable job of discussing some very deep issues within it. On the surface it appears to be a story of a boys trip to the market to get a gift for the girl he has a crush on. Yet deeper down it is about a lonely boy who makes a pilgrimage to an eastern-styled bazaar in hopes that it will somehow alleviate his miserable life. James Joyces uses the boy in “Araby” to expose a story of isolation and lack of control. These themes of alienation and control are ultimately linked because it will be seen that the source of the boys emotional distance is his lack of control over his life.
The story begins as the boy describes his neighborhood. Immediately feelings of isolation and hopelessness begin to set in. The street that the boy lives on is a dead end, right from the beginning he is trapped. In addition, he feels ignored by the houses on his street. Their brown imperturbable faces make him feel excluded from the decent lives within them. The street becomes a representation of the boys self, uninhabited and detached, with the houses personified, and arguably more alive than the residents (Gray). Every detail of his neighborhood seems designed to inflict him with the feeling of isolation. The boys house, like the street he lives on, is filled with decay. It is suffocating and “musty from being long enclosed.” It is difficult for him to establish any sort of connection to it. Even the history of the house feels unkind. The houses previous tenant, a priest, had died while living there. He “left all his money to institutions and the furniture of the house to his sister (Norton Anthology 2236).” It was as if he was trying to insure the boys boredom and solitude. The only thing of interest that the boy can find is a bicycle pump, which is rusty and rendered unfit to play with. Even the “wild” garden is gloomy and desolate, containing but a lone apple tree and a few straggling bushes. It is hardly the sort of yard that a young boy would want. Like most boys, he has no voice in choosing where he lives, yet his surroundings have a powerful effect on him.
His home and neighborhood are not the only sources of the boys animosity. The weather is also unkind to the boy. Not only is it cold, but the short days of winter make play more difficult under the “feeble lanterns.” Only the boy and his laughing, shouting companions “glow”; they are still too young to have succumbed to the decay of their neighborhood. But the boys must play in “dark muddy lanes,” in “dark dripping gardens,” near “dark odorous stables” and “ash pits” (Sample Essays). The boy cannot expect to have any control over the seasons or weather. Nevertheless, this bitterness contributes to his feeling of vulnerability.
One of the more dehumanizing aspects of the story is that nowhere does anyone ever refer to the boy by name. He is always referred to as you or boy. This could be attributed to the fact that, on the whole, there is relatively little dialogue, and the story is rather short. However, the boy is also the narrator of the story and could have easily introduced himself. After all, in the first paragraph he introduces his setting, it would not have been unreasonable for him to have mentioned his name. It seems likely then that the boys name was omitted deliberately. By depriving the boy of a name, he is denied any sense of identity, consequently alienating him even further.
The plot of the story is based around the boy attempting to go to the bazaar, Araby so that he may return with a gift that will please Mangans sister. While in some ways Mangans sister offers the boy some hope, she is also a major source of the his alienation. He desperately lusts for her attention and affection. His recount of his mourning ritual: “When she came out on the doorstep my heart leaped. I ran to the hall, seized my books and followed her. I kept her brown figure always in my eye (Norton Anthology 2237).” The boy becomes so preoccupied with impressing Mangans sister that he begins to neglect other aspects of his life he wishes that all the tedious things in his life, such as school work, were done away with so that he could focus only on her. “At night in my bedroom and buy day in the classroom, her image came between me and the page I strove to read I had hardly any patience with the serious work of life which, now that it stood between me and my desire, seemed to me childs play, ugly monotonous childs play (Norton Anthology 2238).” To make things worse, he can not possibly expect to have any control over the girls feelings. As it is, he can barely speak to the girl, and when she finally does talk to him he is overcome with confusion. He is so desperate for recognition and care, that when he concludes that Mangans sister is a potential source, he becomes fixated with her to the point of alienating himself from everything else in his life.
Throughout the story virtually all adults ignore the boy. Even his uncle rarely pays any attention to him. And when he does, it seems that it is only to bore him or recite tired sayings like “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” This is an endless source of frustration for the boy because his uncle has the greatest control over his life. Going to the Araby is of supreme importance to the boy, and while he petitions this to his uncle at least four times, each time his uncle forgets. The boy cannot resist feeling helpless; he has put all of his hopes of happiness on going to Araby. However, he can not even get his uncle to listen to him long enough to remember what he is talking about.
A good example of the boys emotional distance comes from his own words: “From the front window I saw my companions playing below in the street. Their cries reached me weakened and indistinct (Norton Anthology 2238).” It is odd that he uses the word “companions” to describe his friends in the street. At that point, they are clearly not his physical companions. They are in the street and he is in a high, cold, empty, gloomy room. Nevertheless, the word “companions” is fitting in a more significant way. It shows the extent of the boys alienation. They are his closest physical ties, yet he can barely hear them, let alone speak with