James Joyce uses multiple literary devices in ''Araby. '' The most notable literary device he uses is symbolism. The fence, referred to as the railing in the story, is a symbol used to represent the barriers to a relationship between the narrator and Mangan's sister. It also helps Joyce explore the theme of restraint.
It identifies several symbols such as "blind", the color brown, light and darkness, a bicycle pump, an apple tree, a clock, and the market Araby. Religious symbols like a priest and references to the Virgin Mary and chalice are also discussed.
A symbol is anything that stands for, or represents, something else. In a story, a character, an action, an object, or an animal can be symbolic. Often these symbols stand for something abstract, like a force of nature, a condition of the world, or an idea. For a quick game about symbols, check out Symbols in Art.
The narrator's image of Araby is a romanticized one. He sees it as an opportunity for him to have a relationship with Mangan's sister; he imagines himself getting her a wonderful gift at this exotic market and earning her affections.
Religion purveys almost every page in “Araby.” However, these references to religion feel more like a relic of the past as opposed to an indicator of reality. The most obvious example is the dead priest who used to live in what is now the narrator's house. The death of the priest symbolizes the death of religion.
What Are The Symbols In Araby? - Discovering Ireland Now
What is the symbolism of the fence in Araby?
This fence, like the sister's bracelet, largely represents a prison or what holds both the narrator and Mangan's sister back from what they want - romance with her on his part, and the bazaar on her part. It also represents the social taboo of having a relationship with a friend's sister.
In the article, Mangan's sister also has multiple meanings. First of all, she symbolizes a beautiful ideal. For the little boy, Mangan's sister is his ideal. Everything about her is full of romance for the little boy.
Cheng continues, “Mangan's sister is given no name of her own in the story ¾ for she functions as a female blank page awaiting his male inscription” (91). The inscription imposed by the speaker mandates her to satisfy his desire for Otherness, a subconscious yearning for the exotic that she ultimately cannot provide.
Symbols nearly always signal their existence by emphasis, repetition, or position. The meaning of a literary symbol must be established and supported by the entire context of the story. The symbol has its meaning in the story, not outside it.
In the case of “Araby,” light and dark imagery is used to show the difference between the narrator's idyllic fantasies and the real world. The narrator's rich inner life is filled with light. He associates light and warmth with both Mangan's sister and the bazaar he intends to travel to in order to court her favor.
James Joyce uses irony to highlight the naïveté of the young narrator. For example, when he finally leaves the house to go to the Araby bazaar, he has one florin in his pocket. However, by the time he has paid for his train ticket and entrance fee, he doesn't have enough to buy a gift, even if he had found one.
The narrator, or the teller of a story, of ''Araby,'' a short story by James Joyce, is an unnamed schoolboy who lives with his aunt and uncle. After he develops an interest in her, the narrator promises to bring his friend's sister a gift from Araby, a bazaar that he plans to attend.
Disillusionment: The core message of ''Araby'' is disillusionment. The narrator has an active imagination and a strong sense of wonder. He imagines that the bazaar and adulthood will be exotic and exciting, but he is met with the truth that life is mundane and often disappointing.
What does the shopping cart symbolize in the road?
The world around them is a wasteland, not a department store, and their use of the cart repurposes a symbol of abundance into a token of survival's difficult terms. The cart holds all that the father-son pair owns, implicitly embodying the meagerness of their new lives.
At the end of "Araby," the boy realizes that while he has believed himself to be in love with his friend's sister, he is merely infatuated with her. He is physically attracted to her, but he does not even know her well enough to find a gift for her at the bazaar.
Answer and Explanation: The title "Araby" refers to the Middle East area. This term means a land far away from which it is impossible to reach. However, it is also often used to refer to an ideal, which means something impossible to reach or even see.
Though he promises Mangan's sister that he will go to Araby and purchase a gift for her, these mundane realities undermine his plans and ultimately thwart his desires. The narrator arrives at the bazaar only to encounter flowered teacups and English accents, not the freedom of the enchanting East.
She is unable to go because of religious activities at her school, but he undertakes to go and bring her a gift instead. This brief conversation and the prospect of the trip to the bazaar causes the boy to lose concentration on his lessons and regard his playmates with disdain.
The pawnbroker's widow who waits for the narrator's uncle to come home on the night of the Araby market, presumably to ask for the money he owes her. She is described as an “old, garrulous woman” who collects used postage stamps to sell to collectors to earn money, usually for a religious cause.
What point of view does the story Araby told from?
“Araby” is a celebrated coming-of-age story written from the first-person point of view, featuring a narrator who speaks directly to readers, using I and other first-person pronouns.
Much of the tired, gloomy imagery Joyce uses in “Araby” can be connected to the historic context of the story. Joyce specifically uses contrasting light and shadow imagery to demonstrate the difference between the bright, religious idealization and the grim reality of the narrator's life.
