To the narrator, Araby symbolizes
the beauty, mystery, and romance he longs for in his life
. He lives in a dreary house on a shabby dead-end street. He escapes the drabness around him by reading a Sir Walter Scott romance and a book of French adventures and by dreaming.
What does Araby symbolize to the boy and how is the conflict of the story resolved when he goes there?
For the narrator, it is as if Mangan’s sister were a princess and he is off to a foreign land on a quest for her (note “Arab” in “Araby”); as if he’s going to the Middle East to find and reclaim the Holy Grail itself.
Araby represents the destination of a quest
.
What is the purpose of Araby?
James Joyce’s purpose in writing “Araby” was
to emphasize the difference between the world the Church, or society in general, creates and the real world
. In “Araby,” he also displays to the reader the drastic change a loss of innocence.
What does the Araby bazaar symbolize or represent to the narrator?
The Araby bazaar symbolizes
romance and escape from the drab dullness of Dublin life that the young adolescent narrator seeks
. He first hears of the bazaar from his friend Mangan’s unnamed older sister. … The bazaar first becomes a symbol of the exotic and romantic; later it represents his disillusions.
What connotations does the word Araby have for the narrator?
The word Araby connotes the exotic for the young man who is the narrator of James Joyce’s short story, and it is also
suggestive of the Orient
in contrast to the Christian country of Ireland.
What does the ending of Araby mean?
“Araby” ends with this passage: …
When he learns she wants to go to the bazaar but cannot, he promises to bring her a gift from Araby
. He thus goes on a quest to win the heart of the woman he loves, a romantic adventure. Araby turns out to be a cavernous warehouse filled with cheap goods.
What does the boy realize at the end of Araby?
At the end of “Araby,” the boy realizes that
there is a gap between desire and attaining one’s goals
. Fulfilling his promise to the girl becomes impossible, and shopping at the bazaar proves less satisfying than he had anticipated.
What is blind in Araby?
The story uses the word “blind” to
draw attention to the narrator’s naiveté and isolation
. He begins by describing the dead-end street where the narrator lives as “blind,” with the narrator’s house being a lone abandoned house at the blind end, set off from the other houses.
What is the main theme in Araby?
The main themes in “Araby” are
loss of innocence and religion, public and private
. Loss of innocence: The progression of the story is tied to the beginning of the narrator’s movement from childhood to adulthood.
What is the irony in Araby?
The main irony in “Araby” is
that the unnamed boy expects to buy Mangan’s sister a nice gift at the bazaar but ends up with nothing
. This is an example of situational irony, as there is a gap here between what is expected and what actually happens.
What does light symbolize in Araby?
James Joyce expands on the traditional connotations of Light and Darkness in his short story “Araby”. … Joyce uses Light to represent
not only hope, but unrealistic idealism and illusion
. In the same way, Darkness, in addition to despair, represents the reality and truth in the narrator’s predicament.
Why is Araby a quest narrative?
“Sonny’s Blues” (1959) by James Baldwin and “Araby” (1916) by James Joyce can both be interpreted as quest narratives
because they each adhere to the archetype established by quest narrative
. For instance both stories have the symbolic Holy Grail that gives objectification to each protagonist’s desires.
What does the narrator in Araby learn from his visit to the bazaar?
On the morning of the bazaar the narrator reminds
his uncle that he plans to attend the event so that the uncle will return home early and provide train fare
.
How would you describe the relationship between the narrator and Mangan’s sister?
Mangan’s sister is a character who the narrator never really knows, and she is described in ways that
objectify her as the repository of all of the narrator’s fevered adolescent dreams of love and romance
rather than being allowed to be presented to us as a fully developed character.
Why is the narrator angry at the end of Araby?
In the end he realizes that there is nothing for him at Araby, and all his hopes about entering a romantic world beyond the quiet, decent, brown street of his childhood have been reduced to fantasy.
His realization and acceptance represent a loss of innocence
, which makes him angry.
Why does the boy in Araby not buy anything?
The boy’s late arrival at the bazaar called “Araby” is his uncle’s fault. The boy can’t leave for the bazaar until
he gets some money
. The adults in the story cannot understand the importance of the bazaar because they are unaware of the boy’s love for Mangan’s sister.
