Araby

A detailed Summary of Araby

The short story, "Araby", by James Joyce is about a lonely boy who makes a pilgrimage to an eastern-styled bazaar in hopes that it will alleviate his miserable life. Throughout the story he battles withdrawal and a lack of control. Moreover, the themes of alienation and control are inherently linked because the source of the boy's emotional distance is his lack of control over his life.

The story begins as the boy describes his neighborhood. Immediately a feeling of alienation and bleakness prevails. The street that the boy lives on is a dead-end; he is literally trapped. Furthermore, he feels ignored by the houses on his street. Their "brown imperturbable faces make him feel excluded from the decent lives within them." Every detail of his neighborhood seems designed to connote to him the feeling of isolation.

The boy's 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 house's previous tenant, a priest, had died. He "left all his money to institutions and the furniture of the house to his sister." It was as if he was trying to insure the b

oy's 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 unaffected, containing but a lone apple tree "and a few straggling bushes." It is hardly the sort of yard that a young boy would prefer. Like most boys, he has no voice in choosing where he lives. Yet, he is affected by his surroundings.

For the boy, one of the more dehumanizing aspects of the story is that nowhere does anyone ever refer to him 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 introduced himself. After all, in the first paragraph he introduces the setting, it would not have been unreasonable for him to have mentioned his name. It seems likely then that the boy's name was omitted deliberately. By depriving the boy of a name, Joyce effectively denies the boy any sense of identity, consequently alienating the boy from himself.

His home and neighborhood are not the only sources of the boy's animosity. The weather is also unkind to the boy. Not only is it cold, but the short days of winter make

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 paramount importance to the boy. While he implores this of 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 the Araby. However, he can not even get his uncle to listen to him long enough to remember what he is talking about.

When the boy finally reaches the Araby, more disenchantment is to be had. It begins at the entrance where the boy is forced to capitulate and pay more than he had planned. He "could not find any sixpenny entrance and, fea

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Approximate Word count = 1504
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English