Stream of consciousness in araby

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Applied Humanities

Learning to Read Reading Joyce By Eric Steineger 1 Module One: Introduction to the Humanities / Page 1.3.6 Reading Joyce On this page: 0 of 2 attempted (0%) Objective: Apply literary-analysis techniques to another genre: the short story.

On the previous page we analyzed a nonfiction work of prose, a persuasive essay in the form of a letter. Now we’ll turn to fiction and read a short story by James Joyce, a 20th- century Irish author famous for his experimental (and lengthy) novels Ulysses and Finnegan’s Wake.

Analyzing Fiction

On this page, you will study a short story by James Joyce. Read the story found in the link below to answer the questions that follow.

This short story, titled “Araby,” takes place in a working-class neighborhood of Dublin in the early 20th century. Most of James Joyce’s stories and novels, including the stream-of-consciousness Ulysses and the autobiographical novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, lean heavily on a strong sense of place: Joyce’s native Ireland. Reading “Araby” is to wander through Dublin’s “sombre” streets, yearning for something unnamed yet profound. Notice Joyce’s use of the word blind, which can refer to a dead end, shutters on a window, or a lack of eyesight.

To help guide your analysis of this story, consider the following question:

How does Joyce attempt to thwart our narrator’s chances of getting to the bazaar?

Araby

Short-Answer Question

Some classify this story as a “quest narrative” in which the protagonist goes on a journey seeking something. What specific elements of this story do you see contributing to the idea of it being a quest?

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10/31/2020 HUM-200 - Page 1.3.6 - Reading Joyce

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Let’s take a look at this paragraph, one of the more beautiful passages in the English language, to see what’s under the hood:

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. When we returned to the street, light from the kitchen windows had filled the areas. If my uncle was seen turning the corner, we hid in the shadow until we had seen him safely housed. Or if Mangan’s sister came out on the doorstep to call her brother in to his tea, we watched her from our shadow peer up and down the street. We waited to see whether she would remain or go in and, if she remained, we left our shadow and walked up to Mangan’s steps resignedly. She was waiting for us, her figure defined by the light from the half-opened door. Her brother always teased her before he obeyed, and I stood by the railings looking at her. Her dress swung as she moved her body, and the soft rope of her hair tossed from side to side.

Much of “Araby” is shrouded in that late evening gloom; however, Mangan’s sister is shown in light (or the color white) whenever we see her. And we don’t see her much, though we know she’s the reason for our narrator’s trip to the bazaar. Many times in this story, surroundings or objects are described as blind, dead, or yellow, while Mangan’s sister remains unsullied by her environment. Once our narrator promises to bring her a present from the bazaar, as she cannot attend due to a retreat in her convent, little else matters.

To provide some context for this narrative, to understand it more completely, we might think of days of yore, when knights battled monsters and took enormous risks to rescue a damsel in distress. There’s no traditional monster in “Araby,” but our narrator does face obstacles. He does travel to the bazaar under duress holding “a florin tightly in [his] hand” as he seeks to purchase a gift for Mangan’s sister. Viewed in the context of other obstacles the narrator faces on his journey, “Araby” can be considered a quest narrative.

Response Board

10/31/2020 HUM-200 - Page 1.3.6 - Reading Joyce

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When reading “Araby,” what stood out to you most—a description, a scene, a character, a theme? Be specific in your answer.

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