Araby by James Joyce - Essay Example

James Joyce--"Araby" “Araby” is one of fifteen short stories by James Joyce describing what it was to grow from boy to man in Dublin during the early twentieth century. “Araby” is actually a bizarre or a festival that came to Dublin once per year. Against that backdrop, it is clear that we are witnessing the yearnings of a very young man who is experiencing his first crush. This story is not so much about the significance of a relationship between man and woman. Rather, it is the significance of what happens to a young man who finds himself caught up in the irrational heady emotion of love from afar. A theme that will never change regardless of the century, is the emotion experienced when loving from afar which is what happens here. Joyce, describes watching his friends’ sister in a harmless voyeuristic manner. The time in the story is important, especially as it relates to the chronology of the boys life in the fifteen stories. Like any young man (or woman) experiencing their first crush he is obsessed and consumed with this woman. As a result, his existence is neglected. For example, even his teacher has noticed that he is slipping in school. Like any other adolescent experiencing their first crush, the erosion of daily life begins and the grip on reality slips. Finally, his fantasy comes to a screeching halt when he goes to the bazaar to buy her a present. He realizes, with humiliation that he cannot afford a gift for his crush and the reality of his foolishness overcomes him. What Joyce tells us is that this young boy was only human. When Joyce uses "body like a harp," he is demonstrating to us how he has willing allowed his crush on Mangans sister totally consume him, that he remains available to her at her instance and how she penetrates every fiber of his being. His emotions, desire to impress and disappointment is a theme that will never change no matter what century we read this story. Two hundred years from now there will be another student reading this piece and he too will smile knowingly. Sadly, his realization sparks tears. This too, is no surprise. Joyce demonstrates how common it is to have a relationship with a fantasy and it is indeed healthy. This is a right of passage that occurred long before Joyce wrote about and will continue long after. It is a charming story, a healthy story and a sad one. One only hopes that this young man did eventually find a mutual crush. Finally, we can only hope that his next crush did not end in tears. The next piece is “The Dead", which is again authored by Joyce. “The Dead” takes us to the other side of the spectrum of “Araby”. This piece too is from Joyce’s “Dubliner’s” collection. Here we see the bitter reality of what comes from a sham marriage. This too is a theme that sadly survives through the centuries. "The Dead" begins during the feast of Epiphany, a religious holiday. Gabriel Conroy is at the holiday party of Julia and Kate Morkan, his spinster (or unmarried) aunts. Gabriel, is a teacher and literary reviewer. He holds himself in high regard and has little patience for the provincial politics and culture of Ireland. Presuming himself to be far more sophisticated, he appears to favor the thinking and culture of England. Thus we visualize him sitting in the parlor of he party, acutely aware of the stupidity surrounding him (in his perception)and preferring to keep his observations to himself. Joyce gives us a hint of Gabriel’s disdain towards Ireland and the people surrounding him. "And havent you your own language to keep in touch with -- Irish?" asked Miss Ivors. "Well," said Gabriel, "if it comes to that, you know, Irish is not my language." We see here, that Gabriel seeks the death of his own country, language and neighbors. Yet we wonder why he came to his aunts’ reception. Perhaps, in his conceit he simply cannot give up the annual rite of giving his speech. Certainly, this is a man that many of us have come across. Notably, academics are often portrayed as self absorbed and condescending to those around them. Later, during a chat with his wife, he notices that she is driven to distraction. She is distracted by the song mentioned by Gabriel because it reminds her of her first love and perhaps her only true love. Gabriel is forced, at the end of the evening to realize that he has never loved his wife the way her first love did. It seems that Gabriel is forced into his own epiphany as well. Indeed, the keen lust towards his wife that he felt upon stepping out of the cab is now lost. His lust was the result of feeling that they had now escaped the disdainful society at his aunts’ house together and they would be heading back into the sophisticated atmosphere “they” had created. All is lost now however as he realizes that he has been in that world alone. At the end of the story Gabriel looks out the window of his room and watches the snow; "His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead." Seemingly, here, Gabriel realizes that his marriage, like so many of the lives he privately derided while at his aunts’ house, is a sham. The lesson here is that death comes in all forms and that the memories of a song, caused the death in his marriage. The final piece in this critique is “Babylon Revisited” by Fitzgerald. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s "Babylon Revisited," the main character, Charlie Wales has come to Paris to try to get custody of his daughter Honoria. Honoria is in the custody of his deceased wife’s sister Marion and her husband Lincoln. The transfer of Honoria’s custody was the result of a breakdown suffered by Charlie when he realized that he had contributed to death of his wife. Because he had a sort of breakdown and suffers from alcoholism, he must now prove himself to Marion. In so doing, he creates a false façade of which he is well aware. We see now, how man finds himself in unhealthy circumstances and relationships. Indeed, if we look at one person entering the phase of puberty in “Arabia” we cannot help but wonder how that healthy child turned into the tortured soul in “Babylon Revisited” or in “The Death”. The world is far more rosy when Charlie is drunk or when he is with his drinking cohorts or his daughter. Clearly though, he is seeking a new chance and we cannot help but to hope he gets it. Sadly though, we don’t know whether he gets custody. We only know that he continues to walk the delicate line of abusing alcohol and addiction. His only inspiration for not drinking into oblivion was the hope of regaining custody of his daughter. In conclusion, it could be said that all three of these stories chronicle the life of any man, be it today or yesterday. The truths that Joyce and Fitzgerald offer are that reality can be awful. We can begin our childhood with conflicts that are common (such as the first crush). However, our lives can spiral out of control when we do not maintain our balance with reality (my wife never loved me with the passion that she loved another man). Read More