JAMES JOYCE - Research Paper Example

In 1914 the short story Araby was published in the collection called Dubliners. From the first line of this story the readers can learn about the cheerless life he had in Nort Richmond Street. The main character is a boy. He lived with his uncle and aunt. The author emphasizes that only due to the inexhaustible energy and fantasy of kids the street that was really dark and sad, seemed full of light. He provides a very beautiful description of the life in the street and the feeling of children: “When the short days of winter came, dusk fell before we had well eaten our dinners.

When we met in the street the houses had grown sombre. The space of sky above us was the colour of ever-changing violet and towards it the lamps of the street lifted their feeble lanterns. The cold air stung us and we played till our bodies glowed. Our shouts echoed in the silent street. The career of our play brought us through the dark muddy lanes behind the houses, where we ran the gauntlet of the rough tribes from the cottages, to the back doors of the dark dripping gardens where odours arose from the ashpits, to the dark odorous stables where a coachman smoothed and combed the horse or shook music from the buckled harness” (Joyce).

Children played the game that elucidated the street. The author wants the readers to understand how children see this world (Special issue on James Joyce). . All their cries echoed in the secretive streets. The success of the game depends on children themselves. The children were eager to make a so-called career. Certainly, it was a very childlike career. The author depicted the indifference of kids to the adult world, but at the same time their great interest to it. They spied on the adult characters of the story, for example the uncle of the narrator and the sister of Mangan.

The boys would like to get to know more about the opposite gender. For them it was something mysterious, something hidden and unknown. By spying they revealed the secrets of the adult life and world, which was very interesting for them (McCourt 3). The culmination episode connected with the romantic idealization of the sister of Mangan deserves special attention. The boy dreamt about her not even talking to her and maybe only children can dream this way: “her image accompanied me even in places the most hostile to romance…Her name sprang to my lips at moments in strange prayers and praises which I myself did not understand.

My eyes were often full of tears (I could not tell why) and at times a flood from my heart seemed to pour itself out into my bosom. I thought little of the future. I did not know whether I would ever speak to her or not or, if I spoke to her, how I could tell her of my confused adoration. But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires” (Joyce, “Araby”). Their first meeting was also mysterious, maybe because a boy imagined it in his dreams all the time.

It was a rainy evening, when the boy was along in the room. This room was soundless, dark and empty. He was full of imaginations. He constantly repeated the word