Introduction to Literature
Araby-Journal
499110208. Emile
After reading the story, Araby, I think the ending of the unnamed protagonist is
doomed to be a negative one. In other words, readers are capable of speculating on the
thread of the entire story while going through the text based on its setting as well as
the construction of plots (why plural? There is only one plot in this story).
Araby is an extremely descriptive story, therefore, the location where the story
takes place together with the behavior or thoughts of the characters are depicted in
details. As I pay more attention to those descriptions, there is a consistent repetition of
the idea, lightness and darkness, in the story. Like the description in the introduction
“North Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street….” with the addition of the
one in paragraph three “The space of sky above us was the color of ever-changing
violet and towards it the lamp of the street lifted their feeble lanterns.” There are other
examples mentioning the specific notion. However, the interpretation of the concept,
lightness and darkness is slightly different.
When bringing up the idea of darkness, there isn’t any modifying adjective put in
front of it. Conversely, there is one, for instance, “feeble lanterns” when the notion of
lightness is mentioned. Generally speaking, darkness is the epitome of the negative;
on the other hand, lightness is the symbol of the positive. If we apply these two ideas
into the story, the darkness stands for the reality of adulthood, whereas, the bright
represents the fantasy of adulthood of the unnamed protagonist. Based on how the two
ideas are depicted in the text, the darkness accounts for a significant part of the setting
in the story. On the contrary, the concept of lightness seems to be frail in the text due
to the modifying adjective. Consequently, the difference in the description is so
influential that compels readers to picture a predominantly dark and slightly bright
setting in mind; moreover, to expect the entire story to develop in a certain way.
Araby is a story with a unique development in its plots as the portion of each part
is fairly unequal. The exposition describing the setting of the place as well as the
protagonist’s crush for the girl and the fantasy of adulthood is extremely long. Then,
the climax with Mangan’s sister talking to the protagonist as well as triggering his
determination to go to the bazaar is kind of lengthy, too. At last, the conclusion part
depicting what the bazaar looks like and how the protagonist feels when lingering in
the stalks (stalls?) is relatively short compared with the length of the exposition and
the climax. To me, the portion of each part has its purpose, to reveal the protagonist
emotions within to the readers.
As far as I am concerned, James Joyce reveals the protagonist’s desire of
adulthood by means of accumulating words. By so doing, the aspiration can be almost
tangible to readers. When it comes to the climax describing the protagonist’s very first
interaction with Mangan’s sister, all the accumulating emotions in the previous
sections are completely unleashed. Finally, the rather short conclusion showing the
disappointment of the protagonist shatters all the fantasies. To me, the first two
sections can be combined. The combination is full of descriptions but lack of actions,
which makes the readers wonder whether the desire will be put into practice or the
fantasy will vanish instantly in the following parts. Indeed, the protagonist’s fantasies
are disillusioned in the conclusion. The conclusion is a like a slap on the main
character’s face to let him have a taste of reality of adulthood. Therefore, we can
come to a negative conclusion of the story via its arrangement.
From my point of view, James Joyce provides readers with the clues of the
ending through descriptions as well as arrangement in plots. As readers, we can be
more positive about our speculation sentence by sentence. Therefore, the ending of
Araby is doomed to be a negative one because of the implication in the text and plot.
You provided a solid main argument and had good supporting arguments. The writing
was fluid and it is clear that you understood the text well. However, the last argument
about Joyce’s use of pacing in the story could have been more developed. Good job!
Overall score: 9