“Araby” and Revelation of Theme

高洁

Abstract “Araby” is a well-known short story written by James Joyce.It is well-known for its writing techniques such as symbolism，the use of epiphany，and especially the profound themes that the author meant to reveal.After doing detailed analysis，the author of this thesis reaches the following themes：loss of innocence，paralysis of people and the society，mental poverty of people around the boy and disillusionment of dream.

Key Words  James Joyce  “Araby”  Revelation of Theme   Dubliners

“Araby” is a frequently-collected and hence well-known short story written by James Joyce.It is well-known for its writing techniques such as symbolism，the use of epiphany and especially the profound themes that the author meant to reveal.This thesis aims at studying the themes of the story.

1.“Araby”

Dubliners，which is famous for Joyces idea of an epiphany，is one of the most popular of his masterpieces.It was first published in 1914 and it is a collection of fifteen short stories which was considered to be a vivid depiction of the Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early years of the 20th century.“Paralysis and stagnation of Dublin society” is its major theme.Among all the fifteen short stories in Dubliners，“Araby” is a typical one which clearly reveals the theme.

2.Revelation of Theme

In the whole process of pursuing his dreams，all the other characters are either indifferent to or doesnt know at all what the boy is thinking or pursuing.All the people there seem to be paralyzed.And they seldom communicate with each other.So，we notice the lack of care and indifference of the society，and this leads to one theme：paralysis of people and the society.When the boy has reached Araby，he meets the weary-looking man who stands besides the entrance，people who are gathering about the stalls which are open，two men who are counting coins，and the young lady who is flirting with two men in Araby.They are either indifferent to the boy or look at him suspiciously.It seems that people in Araby are paralyzed.Peoples attitude towards him drives the boy crazy，and he exits the bazaar with shame and anger.And the boy suddenly realizes he is a fool and is fooled not only by people at the bazaar，but also by Mangans sister and himself.He begins to come to see his innocence and ignorance.In this way，we can get another theme：the loss of innocence.

It is Mangans sister who makes the boy decide to go to Araby.She asks him whether he will go to the bazaar one day，quite out of the boys expectation.For the boy，Araby is a holy place where he can realize and persue his dream，but for Mangans sister，Araby is just a place where is full of material things.What the boy meets at the bazaar are people who are strangers to him and who are unfriendly to him.The young lady first observes the boy.Thinking the boy cant have much money and buy anything，the young lady is indifferent to and suspicious of the boy.So，Joyce in this way reveals another theme：mental poverty of people around the boy.Last but not least，we see that the boy finally fails in promising his dream is that in the process.And this leads to an important theme of the short story：disillusionment of dream.

3.Conclusion

After doing detailed analysis，the author of this thesis reaches the following themes of “Araby”：loss of innocence，paralysis of people and the society，mental poverty of people around the boy and disillusionment of dream.

References：

[1]Bolt，Sydney.2005.A Preface to Joyce.Beijing：Peking University Press.

[2]Joyce，James.1993.Dubliners.Wordsworth Editions Ltd.