Araby

• A 12 year old boy lives on North Richmond street with his aunt and uncle in Dublin, Ireland.
• the neighbor, Mangan, has a sister who the narrator is strongly attracted to. The Narrator watches her every day through his window.
• he finally talks to her, and asks her if she is going to the bazaar. She says that she cannot because she has to go to her convent. He told her he would bring her something back.
• he waits for his uncle to return home, so he can get money to go to the bazaar. By the time the uncle gets home it’s after 9:00
• he takes the money and goes to the bazaar
• By the time he gets to the bazaar, only one stall was still open and he did not buy anything.

Inciting incident:"I had never spoken to her, except for a few casual words,and yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood"

Rising Action: "Her name sprang to my lips at moments in strange prayers and praises which I myself did not understand"

Climax"'If I go," I said 'I will bring you something'"

Falling Action: "At nine o'clock I heard my uncle's latchkey at the door."

Resolution: "Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger"

"Or Mangan's sister came out on the doorstep to call her brother in for his tea.."

"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..."

Araby

James Joyce

Setting

Introduction

Plot

About the Author

Poverty

Put the following statements in chronological order

Suspense

• At the turn of the 19th century Dublin’s population exceeded 400, 000
• Dublin did not see the full effect of the industrial revolution and so the number of unemployed people in the city was always high
• Araby depicts the struggling middle-class on the verge of becoming impoverished
• The narrator lives in a two story house and people have jobs equivalent to those of the struggling middle-class

• James Joyce was born on February 2, 1882 in Rathgar (a suburb of Dublin, Ireland)
• He was born into a middle-class catholic family that struggled to maintain their middle-class ranking
• Shortly after his birth, his family was forced to move to the unfashionable and impoverished area of North Dublin
• Joyce wrote a collection of short stories called Dublines (Araby is part of this collection)
• All of his short stories in some way mirror his life as a child in Dublin

• narrator is watching the girl through the window anticipating the day when he has the courage to talk to her
• waiting for the uncle to get home
• wondering if he will get the gift for the girl

1. He waits for his uncle to return home, so he can get money to go to the bazaar. By the time the uncle gets home it’s after 9:00

2. The neighbor, Mangan, has a sister who the narrator is strongly attracted to. The Narrator watches her through the window every day.

3. By the time he gets to the bazaar, only one stall was still open and he did not buy anything.

4. The Narrator finally talks to her, and asks her if she is going to the bazaar. She says that she cant because she has to go to her convent. He told her he would bring her something back.

5. He takes the money and goes to the bazaar

6.A 12 year old boy lives on North Richmond street with his aunt and uncle, in Dublin, Ireland.

Araby

The True Araby Bazaar

Setting (Place) - Dublin, Ireland

Setting (Time) - Turn of the 19th century

•Joyce based his bazaar loosely on the real Araby Bazaar of 1894.

•The real bazaar was one of the largest public events held in Dublin in the late nineteenth century.

•A large indoor and outdoor space was filled with a large range of goods for sale, multiple restaurants, bars, firework displays, etc.

•Typically it was a fund-raising sale of goods for charity.

•In Joyce’s story the Bazaar is “in a big hall girdled at half its height by a gallery” (Joyce 291) and it is almost over: “Nearly all the stalls were closed and the greater part of the hall was in darkness” (Joyce 291).

Dublin during this time

example of theme

Darkness

•Oppression from Great Britain

•Ireland was seeking independence from Great Britain resulting in an uncertain yet hopeful political scene

•In the 1870s a nationalist by the name of Charles Stewart Parnell wanted to give Ireland a larger voice in the British government

•However, his affair with a married woman was made public, scandalizing the citizens of both Ireland and Britain. He did not resign, but his political career was greatly affected and he never recovered from it

•After Parnell's death in 1891, Ireland underwent a cultural revival (They tried to reinvigorate the Irish language and culture)

•Despite their efforts to revive their culture, the bitterness left over from Parnell’s affair, and later his death, crushed all hopes the Irish people had of independence and unity.

•Ireland was divided into Protestants and Catholics, Conservatives and Nationalists.

• Characters play in the street at dusk,
• The narrator goes to the bazaar after nine o’clock.

Characterization

Writing Style

The Aunt

The Narrator

• represents Ireland, and the struggle to break free from the church
• lower middle class
• driven to please others
• hopeful, persistent, shy, withdrawn
• appreciates normalcy
• not particularly happy

It's written in 1st person - the narrator is the main character in the story.

• but very few characters are named, not even the main character
• since there are no names, the characters are a loose representation of people in Irish society

• calm, loving, thoughtful
• the narrator's mother figure
• unlike the uncle, the aunt remembers the narrator wanting to go to the bazaar
• representation of the members of the church
• not too concerned, happy with the way things are, do not want or see ways to change

The Uncle

Mangan

"The wild garden contained a central apple tree and a few straggling bushes under one of which I found the late tenent's rusty bicycle pump."

It's written in a reminiscent tone - seems to be a man looking back on a memory from his youth.

• there is a regretful feel to the piece
• "Araby" is a sad and disappointing memory

• narrator's friend
• playful
• because of Mangan, the narrator is albe to see Mangan's sister and exchange words

• alcoholic, irresponsible, forgetful
• ignores the narrator when he is reminding him of the bazaar
• know it all
• could symbolize England's rule over Ireland
• Ireland does not have control, like the narrator

Mangan's Sister

Mrs. Mercer

It's full of imagery - mostly Dark vs.Light imagery

• the whole story takes place at night, in a dimly lit house, or at dusk - all in the dark
• Mangan's sister is always depicted as a silhouette in a bright doorway, or a pale lamp in the darkness - she is light

"The light from the lamp opposite our door caught the white curve of her neck, lit up her hair that rested there and, falling, lit up the hand upon the railing.

• minor character
• friend of the Aunt
• pawnbroker's widow
• narrator sees her collecting as pious
• described as being garrulous

• responsible, mature
• representation of the church
• she would not go not the bazaar because she had retreat at the convent
• makes the narrator commit to something he would not have done, until she mentioned it
• it was not in the narrator's nature to go to the bazaar

Reader and Authorial Resolution/Theme

Authorial Resolution

Reader Resolution

• feeling of epiphany
• realization of the fruitlessness of trying to please that which oppresses us
• accept our individuality.
• Until Mangan's sister suggested it, the main character had no intention of going to Araby - it was against his nature
• It wasn't until he stood there, alone in the Araby hall, that he realized what the oppression had done to him and made him do.

• disappointment, yet still of understanding.
• we realize the despair that he feels
• we wish there was an alternative to his situation
• however, he needs to learn this now, rather than live in unhappy oppression, and be constantly striving to reach unattainable standards
• we need to be individuals and do what we would like to do