Araby
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“Araby” is a wondrous tale written by James Joyce that is based solely on love, desire, and disappointment. It is about a young boy – whose name is not mentioned – who has an infatuation with his friends, Mangans, sister. The writer is quoted as “lying on the floor in the parlour watching her door” every morning and thinking about her beauty in the most unromantic settings, such as the market. His one dream is to have a conversation with the girl, and he gets the opportunity one evening while gazing around in the back drawing room where a priest had died. She asks him if he is going to Araby, which she explains as a splendid bazaar. Unfortunately, she is unable to attend because of a retreat weekend in her convent. The boy decides to go and promises to bring something back for the girl.
The night of Araby, his uncle forgets about giving the boy money and comes home two hours later than expected. By the time he arrives at the train station, it is ten minutes to ten. Finally, the boy arrives at the bazaar and examines porcelain vases and flowered tea-sets. A young lady, previously laughing and talking with two gentlemen, strides over and asks him if he is intending on making a purchase tonite. He shakes his head and lingers around for some time. As the boy walks away, he hears a voice calling from one end of the gallery that the light is out; the upper hall is completely dark. He gazes up into the darkness, his eyes burning with anguish and anger as he walks out of the bazaar.
James Joyce was born in Ireland, where he attended nice college but always eventually withdrew because of high tuition fees. Disillusioned by his home countrys political corruption and religious hypocrisy, he moved to Trieste, Zurich where he continued stretching himself as a writer. His structured story “Araby” contains moments that reveal a “sudden spiritual manifestation, whether in the vulgarity of speech or of gesture or in a memorable expression of the mind itself.”
There were two lines in “Araby” that stood out and pieced the story together in my mind. One was, “But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires.” I love that line; I find it so beautiful and poetic. It showed how the young boys emotions were so tightly tied to the girls actions that he could do nothing about it but allow himself to be played.