Benstock notes because "Araby" is narrated in first-person "Araby," we are experiencing what life might have been like for Joyce as a young boy. The boy, while we do not know his age, is still young enough to be influenced by certain "larger than life" images of the girl and the priest. Barnhisel maintains that the narrator in this story is a "sensitive boy, searching for principles with which to make sense of the chaos and banality of the world" (Barnhisel). This is a sensitive age because the mind is open to experience and knowledge but without reason. The events he experiences are also "well within the framework of ordinary childhood occurrences" (Benstock). One of these occurrences is the disappointment of his puppy love with Mangan's sister. The narrative, since told through his perspective is "recorded by the limited perception of an intelligent but nonetheless inexperienced and susceptible consciousness" (Benstock). It is worth noting, however, that as with many of Joyce's stories, we find our narrator reaching an epiphany at the end of the tale that pushes him closer to being an adult than he would like to admit. Before arriving at the bazaar, the narrator imagines himself to be a chivalrous knight, the "sordidly ordinary bazaar defeats him" (Benstock). The conclusion of the story is more shocking to the narrator because of his ideals than it actually is in the real world. He realizes she is not what he dreamed her to be and certainly nothing that he would want. When he sees her for what she actually is, he sees that she could only disappoint and hurt him. Symbolism is important in the story. Joyce uses Catholicism to reinforce certain beliefs and attitudes. The narrator attends a Catholic school and the library to which he is attracted once belonged to the priest. Barnhisel asserts the narrator "takes the Catholic idea of devotion to the Virgin Mary and finds a real-world substitute for the Mother of God" (Barnhisel), which is the Mangan's sister. He also maintains that at the end of the story, the "various symbols Joyce employs converge" (Barnhisel). The light, which is associated with the girl, suddenly meets the dark hall as the bazaar closes. Barnhisel writes, the narrator "begins to see Mangan's sister not as the image...
She and everything attached to her was nothing but an illusion. Barnhisel writes, "His quest, he now realizes, was misconceived in the first place, and he now recognizes the mistake of joining his religious fervor with his romantic passion for Mangan's sister" (Barnhisel). The symbols in this story work well as they illustrate the power that individuals allow others to have over them. Allowing someone to assume the stature of some kind of religion is dangerous and can only lead to disappointment. Joyce is correct to allow this boy to see this girl in some exaggerated fashion because this is not unusual for many people. When we fall in love or lust, we tend to give people far more power than they deserve. The image of an idol is perfect for immature love.
" In Two Gallants, the "fine tart" (p. 58) of a woman that Corley picked up is likely a prostitute or at least a woman; or, as Jackson points out on page 43, a woman "...in low milieux" (or, she could be "an attractive girlfriend" and be know as "free with her favours"). This woman may have been an easy sexual mark, but she was more than that for Corley; she
And that includes me." It is with a Wild Sheep Chase, his third novel published in 1982, that Murakami begins to delve more into the surrealistic, dream world of the opposite sex. A girl whose unusually beautiful and super-sensitive ears confer extraordinary pleasures: "She'd shown me her ears on occasion; mostly on sexual occasions. Sex with her ears exposed was an experience I'd never previously known. When it was raining,
I chafed against the work of school." These "follies" are also seen by the boy's school master as "idleness," which juxtaposes the perceived importance of the feeling for the boy with the more rational views of outsiders. This rational view is also represented by the boy's uncle, who is reminded more than once that the boy plans to go to the bazaar. The climax of the story occurs with the boy's
The following quotation, in which he leaves the bazaar empty-handed, emphasizes the fact that the narrator had egregiously deluded himself about his perceived romance. "Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger" (Joyce). The "anger" the narrator experiences is understandable and is in reaction to this dearth of money and inability to produce
"I had never spoken to her," he admits (30). When finally he does he is at a loss for words. "When she addressed the first words to me I was so confused that I did not know what to answer," (31). He communicates better in a fantasy world, just as he sees better in his fantasy world: "Her name sprang to my lips at moments in strange prayers and
Importance of the setting in understanding the story A successful story needs to have several components linked together in order to help the reader build up the story in their minds. The setting of a story is one of the powerful elements that are often used as a link of symbolism between the character and his life. It sets the mood for the story as well as depicts the mental state
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