Dubliners
Araby

Araby: Summary

"Araby" is about a boy's infatuation with a neighbouring girl, his anticipation of a bazaar (Araby) that he wants to visit for her, and the disappointment he experiences there.

Below is a curated list of books and introductory articles on “Araby” to deepen your understanding of the story.

Overview & Analysis

"Araby" is a coming-of-age story, portraying the journey of an anonymous young boy's infatuation with a girl, and his harsh confrontation with reality. Set in North Richmond Street, the gloomy, uneventful neighbourhood serves as a backdrop to the boy's romantic fantasies and the stark contrast of reality.

The main character, an unnamed boy, is a representative of youth and naivety. His infatuation for Mangan’s sister, the object of his desire, transforms his mundane environment into a world of romantic possibilities. He dreams, "Her image came between me and the page I strove to read," indicating the intensity of his passion. This level of infatuation illustrates the theme of romantic idealization, a common experience in adolescence.

The underlying conflict in the story is the boy's struggle between his romantic dreams and the harsh reality. The bazaar called Araby, which he anticipates as an exotic, alluring place where he can find a gift for the girl he adores, represents an escape from his dull neighbourhood. The conflict arises when the boy's romantic illusions clash with reality.

The bazaar, ultimately, is far from what the boy envisioned. Instead of the bustling, lively place he imagined, it is a nearly closed, dreary market. His late arrival due to his uncle's forgetfulness signifies the indifference of the adult world towards the child's dreams. As he wanders around the almost deserted bazaar, his dreams crumble, and the stark contrast between his expectations and reality becomes agonizingly evident.

The resolution comes in the form of an epiphany, a sudden painful revelation that is a distinct characteristic of Joyce’s narratives. Standing in the dim light of the nearly closed bazaar, he realizes the futility of his feelings and the hollowness of his dreams. He sees himself as "a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger." This epiphany marks his transition from the innocence of childhood to the disillusionment of maturity.

The story explores the theme of maturity and the loss of innocence. The boy’s journey symbolizes the human journey from the illusions of youth to the disillusionment of age. His fantasies about Mangan's sister and the bazaar represent the ideal world of childhood, and the final disappointment signifies the inevitable confrontation with reality as one grows up.

In “Araby,” Joyce expertly uses the first-person narrative to present the protagonist's intense feelings and the transition he undergoes. His internal monologues and perceptions give us insight into his character and the depth of his feelings. The detailed description of the setting mirrors the protagonist's emotional landscape, with the gloomy streets reflecting his internal darkness and the bright bazaar embodying his hopeful dreams.

The story is also a critique of society. The boy's dreams are obstructed by his uncle's neglect, symbolizing the insensitive adult world that disregards children's feelings. The bazaar, a metaphor for life, disappoints him, reflecting the harsh reality that often dashes youthful dreams.

In conclusion, "Araby" is a poignant depiction of the journey from childhood to adolescence. It captures the emotional intensity of youthful infatuation and the painful transition to the disillusionment of maturity. The story's power lies in its ability to evoke universal experiences and emotions, making it a timeless piece of literature.

Characters

Character Description
Unnamed boy (narrator) The story's protagonist, the unnamed boy, is a young, imaginative, and sensitive individual. He lives with his aunt and uncle on North Richmond Street. He nurtures a deep infatuation for Mangan’s sister, and experiences a journey of self-discovery and disillusionment through his romantic fantasies and their eventual collapse.
Mangan’s sister Mangan’s sister is the object of the narrator's desire. While she does not play an active role in the story, her presence significantly impacts the narrator's emotions and actions. She lives in the same neighbourhood as the narrator and represents his romantic and youthful idealization.
The boy’s uncle The boy's uncle is a somewhat neglectful figure who forgets about the boy's plans to visit the bazaar, causing him to arrive late. This delay symbolizes the indifference of the adult world toward the dreams and desires of children.
The boy’s aunt The boy's aunt is a marginal character who is seen attempting to remind the boy's uncle of his promise to the boy. She represents a caring but ultimately powerless figure in the boy's life.

Bibliography for Dubliners —
Araby

Author Title Type
apRoberts, Robert P. "'Araby' and the Palimpsest of Criticism," in: The Antioch Review 26 (1967), p.469-489. Article
Atherton, James S. "'Araby'," in: James Joyce's Dubliners. Critical Essays. Clive Hart (Ed.) New York (The Viking Press) 1969, p.39-47. Article
Baechler, Leah "Voices of Unexpected Lyricism in Two Dubliners Stories," in: JJQ 28.2 (Winter 1991), p.361-276. Article
Barisonzi, Judith "Who Eats Pig Cheeks?. Food and Class in 'Araby'," in: JJQ 28.2 (Winter 1991), p.518-19. Article
Barta, Peter I. "Munkacsy's Ecce Homo and Joyce's 'Araby'," in: The New Hungarian Quarterly 31.118 (1990 Summer), p.134-137. Article
Beck, Warren Joyce's "Dubliners". Substance, Vision, and Art. Durham, NC (Duke University Press) 1969. Amazon
Benstock, Bernard "Arabesques. Third Position of Concord," in: JJQ 5.1 (Fall 1967), p.30-39. Article
Blythe, Hal and Charlie Sweet "Diptych in 'Araby'. The Key to Understanding the Boy's 'Anguish and Anger'," in: Notes on Modern Irish Literature 6 (1994), p.16-18. Article
Booth, Wayne C. "Pluralism and Its Rivals," in: Now Don't Try to Reason with Me. Chicago (University of Chicago Press) 1970. 131-49. Article
Brandabur, Edward A 'Scrupulous Meanness': a Study of Joyce's Early Work. Urbana (University of Illinois Press) 1971. Amazon
Brooks, Cleanth and Robert Penn Warren "'Araby'," in: Understanding Fiction. Brooks and Warren (eds.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ (Prentice-Hall) 1979. Article
Brugaletta, John J. and Mary H. Hayden "The Motivation for Anguish in Joyce's 'Araby'," in: Studies in Short Fiction 15 (1978), p.11-17. Article
Burto, William "Joyce's 'Araby'," in: Explicator 25 (1967), Item 67. Article
Chatman, Seymour "Analgorithm," in: JJQ 18.3 (1981 Spring), p.292-299. Article
Collins, Ben L. "Joyce's 'Araby' and the 'Extended Simile'," in: JJQ 4 (1967), p.84-90. Article
Coulthard, A.R. "Joyce's 'Araby'," in: Explicator 52.2 (1994 Winter), p.97-99. Article
Cronin, Edward J. "James Joyce's Trilogy and Epilogue. 'The Sisters,' 'An Encounter,' 'Araby,' and 'The Dead'," in: Renascence. Essays on Value in Literature 31 (1979), p.229-48. Article
Culler, Jonathan "The Application of Theory," in: JJQ 18.3 (1981 Spring), p.287-292. Article
Dilworth, Thomas "Yeats's Argument with Joyce in 'Ego Dominus Tuus'," in: Review of English Studies. A Quarterly Journal of English Literature and the English Language 42.166 (1991 May), p.232-34. Article
Doloff, Stephen "Aspects of Milton's Paradise Lost in James Joyce's 'Araby'," in: JJQ 33.1 (1995 Fall), p.113-15. Article
Doloff, Steven "On the Road with Loyola. St. Ignatius' Pilgrimage as Model for James Joyce's 'Araby'," in: JJQ 28.2 (1991 Winter), p.515-17. Article
Doloff, Steven "Rousseau and the Confessions of 'Araby'," in: JJQ 33.2 (1996 Winter), p.255-58. Article
Egan, Joseph J. "Romantic Ireland, Dead and Gone. Joyce's 'Araby' as National Myth," in: Colby Library Quarterly 15 (1979), p.188-93. Article
Ehrlich, Heyward "'Araby' in Context. The 'Splendid Bazaar,' Irish Orientalism, and James Clarence Mangan," in: JJQ 35.2/3 (Winter/Spring 1998), p.309-331. Article
Elbarbary, Samir "The Theme of Idealised Love in 'Araby'," in: Journal of English 15 (1987 Sept), p.58-67. Article
Flynn, Elizabeth A. / Schweickart, Patrocinio P. (Eds.) Gender and Reading. Essays on Readers, Texts, and Contexts. Baltimore (Johns Hopkins UP) 1986. Amazon
Freimarck, John "'Araby'. A Quest for Meaning," in: JJQ 7 (1970), p.366-68. Article
Friedman, Stanley "Joyce's 'Araby'," in: Explicator 24 (1966), Item 43. Article
Fuhrel, Robert "The Quest of Joyce and O'Connor in 'Araby' and 'The Man of the House'," in: New Perspectives. Eds. Frank O'Connor, Robert C. Evans , and Richard Harp (Eds.). West Cornwall, Ct. (Locust Hill Press) 1998, p.173-187.Repr. in: Short Story Criticism. Ed. Justin Carr. Farmington Hills, MI (Gale Group) 2001. 313-3 Article
Fuller, James A. "A Note on Joyce's 'Araby'," in: CEA Critic 20 (February 1958), p.8. Article
Garrison, Joseph M., Jr. "The Adult Consciousness of the Narrator in Joyce's 'Araby'," in: Studies in Short Fiction 10 (1973), p.416-17. Article
Going, William T. "Joyce's 'Araby'," in: Explicator 26 (1968), Item 39. Article
Hahn, H. George "Tarsicius. A Hagiographical Allusion in Joyce's 'Araby'," in: Papers on Language and Literature. A Journal for Scholars and Critics of Language and Literature 27.3 (1991 Summer), p.381-85. Article
Harty, John "Joyce's 'The Dead'," in: Explicator 47.3 (1989 Spring), p.35-37. Article
Hauge, Hans "The Ambiguous Artistic Programme of 'Araby'," in: Westarp, Karl-Heinz (ed.). Joyce Centenary Offshoots. James Joyce, 1882-1892. Aarhus (Seklos, Dept. of Eng., Univ. of Aarhus, 1983), p.47-52. Article
Herring, Phillip F. "Trials of Adolescence," in: Joyce's Uncertainty Principle (Princeton University Press) 1987, p.3-38. Article
Higham, Anne S. "An Aspect of Style in 'Araby'," in: Language and Style. An International Journal 15.1 (1982 Winter), p.15-22. Article
Johnson, James D. "Joyce's 'Araby' and Romans VII and VIII," in: American Notes and Queries 13 (1974), p.38-40. Article
Lang, Frederick K. "Rite East of Joyce's 'Araby'," in: Journal of Ritual Studies 1.2 (1987 Summer), p.111-120. Article
LeBlanc, Jim. "All Work, No Play: The Refusal of Freedom in 'Araby'," in: JJQ 37.2 (2000), p. 229-238. Article
Leonard, Garry M. "The Question and the Quest. The Story of Mangan's Sister," in: Modern Fiction Studies 35.3 (1989 Autumn), p.459-477. Article
Lyons, John O. "James Joyce and Chaucer's Prioress," in: English Language Notes 2 (1964), p.127-32. Article
Mandel, Jerome. "Medieval Romance and the Structure of 'Araby'," in: JJQ 13 (1976), p.234-37. Article
Mandel, Jerome. "The Structure of 'Araby'," in: Modern Language Studies 15.4 (1985 Fall), p.48-54. Article
Morrisey, L. J. "Joyce's Narrative Strategies in 'Araby'," in: Modern Fiction Studies 28.1 (1982 Spring), p.45-52. Article
Morse, Donald E. "'Sing Three Songs of Araby'. Theme and Allusion in Joyce's 'Araby'," in: College Literature 5 (1978), p.125-32. Article
Norris, Margot. "Blind Streets and Seeing Houses. Araby's Dim Glass Revisited," in: Studies in Short Fiction 32.3 (1995 Summer), p.309-18. Article
Peters, Margot. "The Phonological Structure of James Joyce's 'Araby'," in: Language and Style. An International Journal 6 (1973), p.135-44. Article
Prince, Gerald. "What's the Story in Narratology?," in: JJQ 18.3 (1981 Spring), p.277-285. Article
Robbins, Susan. "Anguish and Anger," in: Virginia English Bulletin 36.2 (1986 Winter), p.59-61. Article
Robinson, David W. "The Narration of Reading in Joyce's 'The Sisters,' 'An Encounter,' and 'Araby'," in: Texas Studies in Literature and Language 29.4 (1987 Winter), p.377-396. Article
Rosowski, Susan J. "Joyce's 'Araby' and Imaginative Freedom," in: Research Studies 44 (1976), p.183-88. Article
Russell, John and Richard Ohmann. "From Style to Meaning in 'Araby'," in: College English 28 (1966), p.170-171. Article
San Juan, Epifanio. James Joyce and the Craft of Fiction, An Interpretation of Dubliners. Cranbury, NJ (Associated University Presses) 1972. Amazon
Senn, Fritz. "Naming in Dubliners (a first methermeneutic fumbling)," in: JJQ ??, p.465-8. Article
Skau, Michael / Cassidy, Donald L. "Joyce's 'Araby'," in: Explicator 35.2 (1976), p.5-6. Article
Sosnoski, James J. / Barney, Rick / et als. "Analyzing 'Araby' as Story and Discourse. A Summary of the MURGE Project," in: JJQ 18.3 (1981 Spring), p.237-254. Article
Sosnoski, James J. "On the Anvil of Theoretical Debate, Story and Discourse as Literary Theory," in: JJQ 18.3 (1981 Spring), p.267-276. Article
Sosnoski, James J. "Story and Discourse and the Practice of Literary Criticism, 'Araby,' a Test Case," in: JJQ 18.3 (1981 Spring), p.255-265. Article
Stein, William B. "Joyce's 'Araby'. Paradise Lost," in: Perspective 12 (1962), p.215-22. Article
Stone, Harry. "'Araby' and the Writings of James Joyce," in: The Antioch Review 25 (1965), p.375-410. Article
Turaj, Frank. "'Araby' and Portrait, Stages of Pagan Conversion," in: English Language Notes 7 (1970), p.209-13. Article
Wachtel, Albert. "The First Trinity," in: The Cracked Looking Glass: James Joyce and the Nightmare of History. (Susquehanna University Press) 1992, p.23-33. Article
Wells, Walter. "John Updike's 'A & P', A Return Visit to Araby," in: Studies in Short Fiction 30.2 (1993 Spring), p.127-33. Article