Araby - Paragraph Exercise

From a distance, James Joyce’s "Araby" might appear as a short story that focuses on how an individual changes through his love and grasp of reality. After all, when the nameless narrator endeavors to win the love of the girl, he starts to learn how small and negligible he is, and that the world is not as idealistic as he thought. However, on the other hand, the experiences which serve as a momentum of change inside the boy’s mind are so closely related to the society of Dublin, that the interpretation seems incomplete without considering the surrounding. The depiction of the street through which the boy carries the parcels shows the role of Irish society most explicitly. Walking through the flaring streets, the boy is jostled by drunken men and bargaining women, and surrounded by the curses of laborers and the litanies of shop boys. He imagines that he is carrying a chalice through a throng of “foes”. The surrounding seemed hostile to the boy who is carrying a chalice, which represents his purity and ideal. The internal conflict of the narrator is culminated inside Araby, the market. The place is immersed in darkness, and the young lady at the stall is totally apathetic towards him. His fantasy about the market is shattered and the experience makes him feel that what he believed to be sincere and pure was in fact an empty vanity. The values such as purity and beauty are disregarded in the street and the market. Through the experience of the narrator, the author is emphasizing a degraded and vulgar Irish society.

Therefore, it is perhaps more accurate to assume that "Araby" is a criticism against Dublin, the society that has lost its important values. In this sense, “Araby” should be understood in a broader social context, rather than as a story that concentrates on the struggle of an individual.