The Araby
The ArabyThe story, \"Araby\" by James Joyce, is a short story about a young boy\'s life and his quest to impress the young girl for whom he has feelings. The protagonists to the young boy, including the young girl, are the boy\'s uncle, and the people at the Bazaar booth. The initial point of conflict occurs when the girl informs the boy that she cannot attend the bazaar, as she has every other year. \"She could not go, she said, because there would be a retreat that week in her convent\" (Joyce 106). The plot becomes more complicated when the boy offers to bring her a momentum from the bazaar. The night in which he is to attend, his uncle returns from work at a later hour than usual which causes the boy to have less time at the bazaar. Then, when he approaches one of the booths at the bazaar, there are people having a conversation inside. This complicates things because he wishes not to disturb them. \"Then I turned away slowly and walked down the middle of the bazaar\" (Joyce 108). The climax occurs at this point because he decides to walk away, without purchasing anything for the girl, and it is too late to go to another booth, fore the bazaar is closed. So in the end, the boy is left with anger and emptiness because he has not kept his promise to the girl.
In a story such as \"Araby;\" by James Joyce, theme, plot, setting, and characterization can be perceived in several different ways according to each
reader. The critics Deer and Deer, Litz, Atherton, and Stone have all read and evaluated this story and have all come up with completely different opinions concerning the young boy in \"Araby.\"
Deer and Deer\'s critique on \"Araby\" points out the romantic angle that the author uses to portray the young boy\'s character. These critics seem not to like or understand the point of the story. They show how unrealistic it is that a young boy would be so romantic. \"It is the boy\'s excessively romantic interpretations of everything from his casual conversations with Mangan\'s sister to the syllables of the word Araby which make him ripe for disillusionment,\" (Deer and Deer 61). This statement alone shows how the critics look at the story with distaste and misunderstanding.
Litz\'s critique took a different approach, commenting on what he believes to be the main assertions regarding the plot. One of his focuses is on the \"details that point toward an association in the boy\'s mind between his own love and religious devotion\" (Litz 51). He presents the facts about where the main character lives, the books he reads, and the colors in which the author uses to describe his surroundings to prove this assertion. Litz also focuses on the character\'s failure, both religious and political, in the end of the story as he walks away...
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