"Araby"
Uploaded by Tay on Mar 21, 2004
The setting in “Araby” reinforces the theme and characters by using imagery of light and darkness. The experiences of the boy in James Joyce’s “Araby” illustrate how people often expect more than reality can provide and become disillusioned and disappointed. The author uses dark and obscure references to make the boys reality of living in a gloomy town more vivid. He uses gloomy references to create the mood of the story, and then changes to bright light references when talking about Mangan’s sister. The story expresses its theme through the setting, the characterization of the boy, and his point of view as the narrator.
Darkness is used throughout the story as the prevailing theme. Joyce begins the story at dusk and continues through the evening during the winter. He chooses this depressing setting to be the home of a young boy who is infatuated with his neighbor’s sister. The boy is young and naïve and leads a boring life.
I sat staring at the clock for some time and, when its ticking began to irritate me, I left the room. I mounted the staircase and gained the upper part of the house. The high, cold, empty, gloomy rooms liberated me and I went from room to room singing. From the front window I saw my companions playing below in the street. Their cries reached me weakened and indistinct and, leaning my forehead against the cool glass, I looked over at the dark house where she lived.
Joyce uses darkness to make the boys reality more believable through more vivid precise descriptions. The dark illusion the boy experiences are all part of growing up.
North Richmond Street is described metaphorically and presents the reader with his first view of the boy’s world. The street is “blind,” it is a dead end, and its inhabitants are smugly content. The houses are “imperturbable” in the “quiet,” the “cold,” the “dark muddy lanes,” and “dark dripping gardens.” The first use of situational irony is introduced here because anyone who is aware, who is not morally blinded or asleep, would feel oppressed and endangered by North Richmond Street. The people who live there are not threatened; instead they are falsely pious and self-satisfied.
Another use of symbolic description is of the dead priest and his belongings. This suggests bits and pieces of a...