"The Araby" and "Eveline" by James Joyce

Sungwon Kim

Mr. Garrioch          

World Literature

March 17, 2015

“The Araby”

The story is often read as a narrative recounting the experience of a young boy affronting an unexpected frustration and disappointment in his disenchantment of exotic “Araby” and love. Driven by his feeling of love toward the Mangan’s sister, the narrator goes on his journey to the “The Araby” with fascination for the place. Different from what he had anticipated of his journey—mundane life of Dubliners to the exposal of new and enchanting orient—the boy disappoints at finding the place rather dull and disparaging with most of the stalls closed in darkness. There, the narrator observes the flirtatious young lady and two gentlemen who break his naïve preconception of love as a pristine emotion, and eventually feels intense anguish and anger. However, such interpretation lacks consideration of some other crucial qualities depicted by the narrator in terms of his development throughout the story. The juxtaposition of the frequent call to sensual desires and the journey to “the Araby” hints at the narrator’s duplicitous nature. Along with the reference to Christianity, therefore, it is more legitimate to assume that the narrator feels rage toward himself for his negation of the true mind that yearns for sensual pleasure. The “confused adoration” turns out to be the boy’s sensual desire seeking for “the curved neck, the hand upon the railings and the border below the dress” through the revelation that takes place in darkness.

“Eveline”

At first glance, James Joyce’s “Eveline” might appear to be a tragic story of a young woman who inevitably forsakes her opportunity to embark on a new life through her love due to her domestic responsibility. After all, when Eveline, despite the constant threat of her father’s violence and economic difficulties menacing in her daily life, refuses to leave with Frank at the harbor, we might assume that she eventually makes her decision on behalf of her family. However, on the other hand, such interpretation fails to meet the underlying essence of the story, as hinted in her reaction to Frank’s departure in the end. Therefore, it is perhaps more accurate to assume that “Eveline” is rather a portrait of the typical women in the Dubliner society, characterized by unsettled and mercurial mentality. In this sense, Eveline is not simply a character that fulfills her responsibility through her sacrifice of “individual”, but rather a vivid representation of woman detached from love. “Her eyes [with] no sign of love or farewell or recognition” were the kinds that could easily be seen in the eyes of women in Dubliners society.