Araby by James Joyce (A Modernist Reading)

Introduction

Although not purely a modernist piece of literature, Araby by James Joyce marks a transition between the realistic and modernist views the writers adopted in his collection book of short stories Dubliners. As the following reading will show, a mixture between traditional and modern characteristics make up the mood, narration style, and plot structure of the story.

Modernism in Araby

A. Title Study : The title of the short story holds different interpretations. Araby may refer to a real festival that came to Dublin in 1894. Other explanations relate the word Araby to a romantic, maybe orientalist, perception of the East in times of British colonization of Eastern countries. It also recounts the boy’s romantic illusion he experiences toward Mangan’s sister. From the title we can assume Joyce’s ironic voice.

B. Narration : Although the short story is told from a first person point of view I; the reader of Araby feels the presence of two narrators. As a coming-of-age story, there are two voices: the young boy’s and the adult’s. The young boy’s narration comes from an innocent and naïve yet unreliable narrator. His response to the girl’s presence, to the yellow book pages, his inability to discuss his emotions to the girl or to his aunt and uncle all confirm the unreliability aspect. The second narrator, the adult voice, shows ironically his adoration experience and the foolishness of his dream. This shift in narration adheres shift in perception as well.

C. Plot Structure : When reading Araby, readers will follow the narration flow of events as told by the protagonist-narrator in a canonical structure: exposition, rising events, climax, falling events, and exposition, not paying attention to two important facts. It is only by repetitive reading that readers notice that first we have plot with no clear beginning or satisfying end; and two, the story actually has not tale to tell. The reader becomes aware that the events do not transmit any information about the boy’s name, age, background, parents, or status. All is revealed to us is his quest for love and romance. The open-end of the story where the boy fails to bring a present he opted for the whole time and with no apparent reason for his failure leaves the reader questioning the purpose of writing such a story. As it has already explained; however, modernist literature seeks no justification or static truth. What is there is only meaningless. .  

D. Autobiography : It is said that James Joyce left Dublin in body but never in soul. Readers of Joyce can trace this sense in his writing which renders his stories autobiographical. Ireland, mainly Dublin, is present in his writing. His departure from Ireland is deeply personal and reflective of the social and the religious situation at the time.

D. Stream of Consciousness : Although Araby is not as famous with stream of consciousness technique as Ulysses is; yet, a hint of the technique can be captured:

My uncle said he was very sorry he had forgotten. He said he believed in the old saying: ‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.’ He asked me where I was going and, when I had told him a second time, he asked me did I know The Arab’s Farewell to his Steed. When I left the kitchen he was about the recite the opening lines of the piece to my aunt.

 The aim here is to obtain an experience of how the unconscious mind works. 

E. Symbolism

a. The Priest’s death in the story is allegorical. It carries many interpretations, most notably a criticism toward religion (Christianity at the time) and the Roman Catholicism Joyce was highly in hatred with. By picturing the priest as “charitable” the writer emphasizes the church’s hypocrisy.  The priest’s death, hence, can be a representation of the fall of the church in Ireland at the time. Another connection with the idea may refer to the influential Nietzschean theory summarized in the “god is dead” expression. Many people misinterpret Nietzsche’ maxim for atheism; however, what Nietzsche recognized was his prophecy that the world as it was known will collapse as faith in true world will disappear. Skepticism would be the future since the individual will no longer believe in truth theories of the past.

b. Central Apple Tree may refer to Eden mainly Adam and Eve’s fall from heaven. The word “fall” repetitively used in the story may suggest the boy’s fall at the end. The boy’s investment in a church girl and his realization at the end of the un-holiness of his quest and love relates to his fall.

c. Light and Darkness are two opposing words used repetitively in the story. As one may expect, light represents purity, holiness, peace, and heaven. Dark from the other hand suggests evil presence, paralysis, and moral decay. The houses, streets, and Dublin are represented darkly while the girl presence is highly fantasized with light.

F. Themes : 

a. Alienation and lack of Communication is a key theme in Araby. The boy’s alienation is represented through his lack of building relationships with his aunt and uncle, and even with the girl he is in love. The boy’s alienation is even apparent with his surrounding, even the streets and the houses he lives next give him no sense of belonging as they are themselves blind, cold, and dark.

b. Religious Escapism as it has already discussed, is an invading theme in the story. Araby discusses deeply Ireland’s religious paralysis at the time reflected in the priest, church…etc.

c. Loss of Innocence Theme is strictly related with the epiphany in the story. As the narrator recognizes his fall and becomes aware of the illusion of love he developed internally, believed in, and opted for was only a web of his imagination. The story shifts from a phase of innocence into a phase of self-awareness which involves a loss of innocence as well.

d. Love and Sexuality; by the coming of the modern theories and openness toward the individual as the center of knowledge and action, the taboo and the forbidden became modern concerns. Literature became a fertile land for the exploration of such themes like sexuality, love, and dreams, especially after the advances achieved in the field of psychology. Araby is all about how love, sexuality, and psychology are related.

Conclusion

Practice 2 and 3 were designed to make a clear distinction of how traditional story elements are recognized and to compare with changes modernist writers tended to inject for the purpose of producing works that are experimental and unconventional.

Cited Works and Further Readings

Bulson, Eric. The Cambridge Introduction to James Joyce. Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Jaspers, Karl. Man in the Modern Age. Translated by Eden and Cedar Paul. Routledge & K. Paul [1959, 1951].

Simmel, Georg. "The Metropolis and Mental Life." The Urban Sociology Reader, 1903, pp. 23-31.