Araby by James Joyce

In Araby by James Joyce we have the theme of innocence, adventure, escape, desire, frustration and disappointment. Taken from his Dubliners collection the story is a memory piece and is narrated in the first person by an unnamed narrator who is looking back at an incident that happened when he was younger. It is also very early in the story that the reader realises that Joyce is delving into two of the main themes of the story, the theme of adventure and desire. Through the use of setting Joyce makes the reader aware of the narrator’s playful activities while living on North Richmond Street and his exploration, with his friends, of the surrounding streets and cottages. The reader also learns of the narrator’s youthful (if not innocent) desire for Mangan’s sister. Though we never learn her name we are made aware of the narrator’s strong interest in her (lying on the floor peeking through the blinds) and his delight in seeing her when she comes out onto the street to get her brother.

Joyce’s use of the bazaar and the narrator’s journey to the bazaar is also important as both further suggest the idea or theme of adventure (and escape), though on this occasion it is the lack of adventure and escape that Joyce is exploring. A bazaar conjures up images of the exotic of something different or of another place. However for the narrator the effects of the bazaar are not what he had expected. Also as he is travelling to the bazaar, rather than it being a sense of an adventure for the narrator it appears to be a struggle. It is already late and after ‘an intolerable delay’ the train eventually begins its journey, passing by the ‘ruinous houses.’ Joyce mentioning that the houses were ‘ruinous’ may be important as he may be suggesting to the reader the poverty or neglect that existed in Dublin at the time (a sense of bleakness). This in turn would suggest a desire (particularly for the narrator) to escape from his surroundings. It is also significant that it is after nine (and in the winter) when the narrator begins his journey to the bazaar. This is significant as it is dark, which in some ways acts as a foreshadowing for the narrator not discovering or finding what he would like to find at the bazaar.

The idea or theme of frustration is also explored several times in the story. There is the instance of the narrator waiting for his uncle to return home, so that he can give the narrator the money to go to the bazaar, the reader senses the narrator’s frustration as he waits for his uncle. Also when the narrator does eventually make it to the bazaar, he discovers that most of the stalls have closed, which adds to his frustration. There is also the incident of the woman at the stall in the bazaar who asks the narrator does he want to buy something. There is a sense, particularly for the narrator, as if he is a hindrance for the woman, who appears to be more interested in talking to the two Englishmen.

It is also important to remember that the narrator’s purpose of going to the bazaar is to buy something for Mangan’s sister, so that he can impress her. This is important because it is through the narrator’s actions (of going to the bazaar) that lead him to feelings of disappointment. The sense of disappointment is noticeable in several ways. Firstly by the fact that there are not many stalls open when the narrator arrives at the bazaar and secondly, (as mentioned earlier on the theme of frustration), the narrator’s interactions with the woman who is talking to the two Englishmen, encourages the idea that the narrator will not find what he is looking for (either at the bazaar or with Mangan’s sister). It is also possible that the narrator is disappointed because, on seeing the prices of the items at the bazaar, he realises that he doesn’t have enough money to buy anything.

There is also a possibility that Joyce, through the symbolism of the narrator’s uncle and the two Englishmen at the bazaar, may be highlighting the difficulties that Irish people had at the turn of the twentieth century with alcohol and with England as a ruler. The narrator experienced difficulty in getting to the bazaar. He had to wait for his uncle to return home (from a night of drinking) and while at the bazaar the young woman seems more interested in talking to the two Englishmen then helping the narrator find something to buy. In some ways the narrator’s difficulties mirror Ireland’s (and the Irish people’s) difficulties.

The end of the story is also interesting as it suggests a continued paralysis for the narrator. Despite his journey, he hasn’t found anything to buy Mangan’s sister and if anything he considers himself to have been foolish, driven by vanity. The chance to change or succeed (with Mangan’s sister) has passed the narrator by and ironically he is gazing up in the darkness of the night. Joyce using the lack of light as symbolism to suggest a lack of movement or clarity for the narrator.

See Also:

• Two Gallants by James Joyce
• The Dead by James Joyce
• Clay by James Joyce
• The Sisters by James Joyce