In "Araby" and "Eveline," sense perceptions--sight, sound, touch, smell--play an important role in the development of the psychological impacts and the emotional nuances of the stories. James Joyce elicits sensuous responses from the readers by making us actively engage with the sights, sounds, smells, and textures of the settings of the stories. Look for the descriptions of different senses in the two stories and analyze their implications or connotations. Use 250-300 words to respond this question.
32 comments:
To compared both of them – Eveline and Araby – written by James Joyce, I found some similar between them. However, first I want to talk about implications, most parts I focus on Araby. In paragraph 15 on page 506, James Joyce used these words like: pitilessly raw, misgive me and irritate me. These words give me a kind of feeling to know the boy was in fidget. The sense of hearing, clock’s ticking and companions’ cries, creates two different feeling of this boy. The former means the boy was too impatient to wait to buy his lover gift. The latter means, I think, the boy was contemptuous of these companions because he thought he was maturer than them from falling love with a girl- like a mature romance. Besides, why did the high cold empty gloomy rooms liberate the boy? And why he sang? I guess, the empty rooms just like his mind before the girl, high cold empty. Nevertheless, after meeting this girl, the boy felt happy and wanted to sing to his new world. Back to my comparison, I found James likes to let his main character leans against window and look at people in avenue. Not only in Araby, but also in Eveline. I think it’s a kind of admiration and desire of freedom. Moreover, both of them wanted to chase their dream and liberty, but they were limited by the reality- Eveline needed to take care of her father, the boy needed to wait his uncle came back. They had no choice. By the way, I also found the word” priest” existed in these stories. Priest stands for religion. Yet in these stories, priests were either dead nor losing name. Maybe James also wanted to tell us the religion was not our whole life, it couldn’t be, too. We need to focus on the real life and our real emotion.
In these two stories, I found some coincidence between two stories. First of all, these two stories talked about love. In “Araby”, a boy looks love the bright side. However; the end is the unhappy ending. In “Eveline”, started with a haunted tone, just like “Araby”, and also ended in a kind of peaceful tone.
The second part is the image of “large” and “small”. A boy can fall in love with a “creative image” in a bazaar. This can be compared with “Eveline”, which first choose Frank to go through her life, but in vain.
The third part is connotations of the names and the places.Mangan, whom Joyce read and wrote about, By giving the name Mangan to the girl with whom the young "Araby" narrator had crush on, Joyce links her with an author who sometimes wrote about exotic eastern locales—in other words Araby.
Water also signifies very much, the possibilities of a new life. In contrast to her present life, Eveline looks forward to exploring another life with Frank. That is brand new, open-ended future so far. But perhaps it is the very uncertainty about her life with Frank that finally terrifies her. Frank draws her into the "seas of the world," she feels at last that "it was impossible". She cannot begin a new life and leaves behind the old, and "the seas" of rebirth are too much for her. Finally, she walked toward her father and said goodbye to Frank just like the innocent animal.
At first, I want to talk a about “Araby”. In the surface, this story is talk about a boy’s emotion and perception, but actually is to express James Joyce’s own feelings to religion. In the first sentence that reflects James Joyce to feel scorn for Catholic. Because of this crowd of children that study in the Christian Brothers' School just like into the prison sentence, and when they after school, merely like that they can get out of the prison to get the freedom. Besides, James uses a symbolic way to express conflict between the reality and the fantasy. In first paragraph, the houses are awful and gruesome, and in the third paragraph, the dark dripping garden where odours arose from ashpits. According to these descriptions express the corrupt society of Dublin, and also hint that the boy’s romance is hard to accomplish in this kind of society.
Second, the story “Eveline”, in the first paragraph, I think that just presents confusions and agonies. The girl confused, “should I go away home with the sailor or not to go?” In the struggle, finally, she chooses the latter. This presents phenomenon in that time. Since Ireland had become colony of the United Kingdom, people just to accept this condition. As the time goes by, they still blindly accept the fact, and afraid of changing themselves. I think that is what James Joyce wants to express to the masses.
Last, I think both of them are in critical to the decayed society of Ireland beneath the colonization of the United Kingdom, and the wry values.
Comment by Amy Sun
As far as I am concerned, I think in both of the stories, some feelings of James Joyce connote in the description of the mood of the main character and scenery. And people who surround the main character just like the society in Dublin. First, In Araby, people around the boy didn’t know what he thought about and his uncle just like an obstacle to delay him time for going to Araby. It just reflected the society which James Joyce couldn’t bear and wanted to leave. The former tenant of the boy’s house, a priest had left all his money to the institutions and the furniture of his house to his sister. At first glance, I think the priest was really charitable, but could the priest earn such a large number of money? In fact, James Joyce used it to accuse how hypocritical and dishonest the Catholics were in that era. The wild garden behind the house contained a central apple-tree. It was the classic symbol of the Garden of Eden and it hint that the boy will face the complicated problem in his life, the sentiment of love.
Second, in Eveline, the first paragraph described the admiration of the girl for being outside. And she struggled in a question, “should I go away home with my lover or not to go?” It hints that the struggle between tradition and reformation: To leave her hometown (Dublin) or not. As the colony of United Kingdom, people may against at first. But, owing to the fading of time, people gradually accept the condition. The leaving or staying Dublin, I think not merely Eveline suffered from it but also James Joyce.
Last, I think both of them are complaints to the wane of Dublin society and the spiritual paralysis of Dubliners.
Both stories start with the narrator describing their neighborhood; how it is now looking gloomy and bleakness and how it was filled with joy and happiness once a long time ago. And they both mention odours－the burnt smell and horse crap in Araby comparing with the smell of dusty curtains in Eveline－both unpleasant, makes one feel “old” and dizzying. Also the time of both stories is during dusk (mostly) during the winter－another layer of gloominess and bleakness, adding in some “dead” feeling.
The rusty bicycle-pump has the same purpose in meaning as the broken harmonium as they both mean the shattered happiness/vigor that was once in their life.
As far as I can tell, both stories are filled with gloominess and frustration caused by the naivety of a soul that has yet seen all the aspects of the world.
Here are some parts I analyzed from Araby. The silver bracelet worn by Mangan’s sister may mean that she is trapped in the bindings of the ways of the church. The closed stores in Araby might be telling us that the “paradise” the narrator was heading for is not what he thought it would be like; it was empty and he may be feeling out of place.
And here are some from Eveline. The story starts with Eveline sitting at a window watching the sky and her surroundings grow dark. The author used the word “invade” to imply the darkness also creeping inside her. The character Frank represents an unknown life, a new beginning for the narrator. The letters on her lap growing indistinct can be interpreted that she cannot “see”. She is baffled, lost, unable to find a way out of the situation she’s in.
I want to talk about Eveline first. The author uses a scene filled with sunset and the bad air to build a feeling of sadness and depression in first paragraph.
In the second paragraph, there are many contrastive adjectives to show the changes between the past and now, like little brown houses and bright brick ones. Frank, living in Buenos Ayres, is a sailor. His tan skin represents that he is traveling around the world. All these make Eveline’s heart beating. It is an exit filled with hopes for Eveline to escape the life she is living now, which is hard, and torturing. And the final scene, a place that the climax happens, is train station with the crowd. It’s just like a movie, the swaying crowd and the struggling girl. All just happens in a second but like costing a long long time. The girls decided not to go the her dreaming place. What instead is that her eyes has no sign of love or farewell or recognition.
And Araby, also mentions the lost past. The past symbols the bright, hopeful and energetic time, too. The narrator, a pure boy, meets his first love. He urges to do something for his goodness. But his uncle’s carelessness hits his passion. Others don’t even care about his feeling. And the clerk is the last attack. The conversion between her and two men, the reality of flirting , kills his passion finally. The purity of the boy is gone. It starts with a bright way but ends in a depressed way .
Araby is a typical of ''growth'' novel. It was talking about youth's love of destruction.
The leading role's love view tend to be idealistic. I think it may calls ''the love of Knight''. For example, he had thought himself as a knight－successfully took the Saint Cup back, going to Araby to buy the gift for the girl. All he wanted to do was to keep the promise for his ''Princess''. Most important of all, when the first time the boy met the girl, the girl standing on a high building just like balcony and bending below to talk to him. It is really like a medieval age knight. (Looking for Saint Cup, being polite for whom he loves.)
The word ''Araby'' gives us an oriental feelings. In the story, it also mentioned that the girl is the tan skin. So it cause fell-in-love- boy saw her as an oriental princess. When the girl encouraged he to go to Araby, bringing the gift for her. Such as the princess encourages the knight to pilgrim, bringing back the Saint Cup.
In the end, is a sadness plot. Because he been to bazaar, found out that there have no enough money to buy the gift.Then a man and a woman were flirting with each other in the store. Let his love view thorough destroyed.
James Joyce gave us a true perceptions of sight, like we are really in the plot of story, feeling the same sensation with the leading role.
In “Araby”, I found some words and sentences that symbolize different meanings. In paragraph 1 line 4, I think the two houses are the boy and the girl. This sentence means the boy always gazes the girl, just like the two houses standing mutually. In paragraph 3, stated that their playing echoed in the street and the light is muddy. Finally the light filled the areas then Mangan’s sister appeared. In my opinion, it means an atmosphere that the girl in the boy’s heart is bright and sacred. In paragraph 5, the boy feels the environment is incompatible with his ideal so he uses some critical words, such as “drunken men”, “bargaining women”, “the curses”, and “shrill”. From these reasons, we can know the boy is not satisfied with the present. In paragraph 6, the boy went into the back room where was dark and had no sound, but he saw some distant lamp lighted him. The important one sentence is “I was thankful that I could see so little.” Because it means when he is in dark, the girl is an image of shine to him. In paragraph 11, the uncle responded the boy curtly about his request. He felt the air was “pitilessly raw”. In here, I can feel the boy’s frustration of his uncle’s response through the two words “pitilessly” and “raw”. In paragraph 12, the boy was waiting his uncle back but his uncle forgotten that. The boy entered a “cold” “empty” “gloomy” room. I think these adjective words on behalf of his feeling. In paragraph 13, Mrs. Mercer said she was sorry she couldn’t wait for any longer and she didn’t like to be out late. In fact, all these complaints are the boy’s mind voice. In paragraph 17, the delay train began moving out of the station, “it crept onward among ruinous houses and over the twinkling river“. Here means the train ran so fast consequently all the scenery became vague. After the boy reached the bazzar, and was disappointed about what he sees in there. Here are some connotations I found of “Araby”.
From “Eveline”, there are some words also used in “Araby”. And I think the two stories’ settings are similar sometimes. For example, the two main characters always sit at the window and watch the sky become dark, revealed the common of Eveline and the boy. Another similarity is “dark room”. In the two characters’ heart, they all feel empty and satisfied.
Here are my responses to this literary technique.
In the story Araby, James Joyce used feelings of vision to lead the readers into the plots. Every sentence involved not only denotations but also connotations. Readers had to realize the contents with imaging by themselves. The writer described many different circumstances to express the boy’s emotions and affection. This method of writing could attract readers and make them pay attention into the story. The surface of the story seemed very simple. If you didn’t read the deeper aspect, you wouldn’t be affected by the story. The story reflected the times of Dublin that the love couldn’t be showed completely. Through environmental description could let readers more understand.
The other story Eveline, James Joyce used another sense organ, listening. He applied listening to represent the girl’s struggle in her heart. Every sound expressed different mood so that readers could experience the character’s situation. He also used odors to describe the story. The plot showed the times that women couldn’t be selfish and go on with own feelings.
No matter what kinds of sense organs, the writer wanted to make readers feel more interested and realized the story thoroughly. By this way, readers could go into the plots as if they had been the main character. It also deepen the impression of the story for readers. So, the methods of writing played an important role in a story. It could determine a story’s goodness or badness. The definition of a good story is that the writer could attract reader’s sights or not.
In the Araby, the narrator wrote a storyabout a boy likes a lady, but it wrote down the statement at the same time. For example, “North Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian Brothers School set the boys free.” shows the narrator looked down on Catholicism, because the kids are freer than in the Catholicism school. And the people living there can’t see anything, it also means you see something as you don’t see it or not clear. On the other hand, the priest’s death symbolic Catholicism’s decadence. The narrator use some adjective to modify noun like musty air, rusty for describing the situation that less and less people believe in Catholicism. In the end, he was disappointed to Araby, but it also means he was disappointed to the lady and people were disappointed to Catholicism.
In the Eveline, the narrator wrote how happy the actress when she meet the Frank, she thought he could make her get rid of the current life. The evident is the odor of dusty cretonne and all her things, she dusted them once a week ago, but these things were dusty before she went away here, she didn't care this place anymore. But, she hesitated to do it when her memories came back. The narrator use the air melancholy and mournful whistle to describe her distress. Finally, she changed her mind before getting on the boat. She still want to stay her hometown. I think the narrator is the same, because he always writes his storys' background in Dublin.
In the beginning of Araby, the narrator uses adjectives like “blind” and “quiet” to imply the hopeless situation of the boy. Then, the nanrrator uses “musty” to describe the air. That implies the boy’s love is whirling and confusing like the mist.
In the third paragraph of Araby, there are many sense of feelings. For example, the sentence “we played till our body glowed.” is a sense of touch; “Our shouts echoed……” is a sense of hearing; “where odors arose from the ashpits……” is a sense of smell. They all make this description of the street more lively. They also imply that although the street is quiet, it is sometimes bustling with noise and excitement.
When the boy arrives at Araby, he finds that the bazaar is closed. The sentence “the hall was in darkness” implies the light in the boy’s heart is off, and there’s less hope for him. The last sentence of the last paragraph tells that” the boy’s eyes burn with anguish and anger.” He thinks that nobody really understand him, and his chances to the girl he likes almost disappear. He is in an awful mood.
In Eveline, the first sentence” the evening invade the avenue” is a personification. And “the odour of cretonne” is a sense of smell. They imply that Eveline is of anguish, and the situation doesn’t really make her comfortable. She is facing a changing point, and needs to make a choice between his father and the guy she loved in a struggling situation. At last, she chooses to go back to her father. Her eyes give the guy she loved no sign of love or farewell or recognition, because she determines to stay and let the unhappy memory which created by the guy she loved go.
The two stories have a lot of connotations and implications. They both use them to describe the situation of the background and the feelings of the characters.
I find out that there are some similarities in the two stories. Both of them show us what James Joyce wants to say then but he cannot tell in public. In Araby, James joyce is seemingly writing a story about boy’s love but there are some important connotations he want to show us. He first describes North Richmond Street as the blind street, which means that his country has no vitality. For those children who go the church school, they are free when they can return home. Also, by knowing some gestures and emotions of the boy and the girl, we know people are extremely repressed by their religion and they want to be free. The priest’s death represents the decay of Catholicism but it is still rotten and full of corruption. The relation between a priest and his family is still very strong. That’s why the air is musty. At the end of the story, ideal fractures because of reality.
In Eveline, James Joyce uses “dust” as a symbol of boring invariable live style. It also symbolizes the dreary family atmosphere and the paralysis of Dubline. People and things in Dublin are exactly like everything in the house covering with thick dust. Once covered by dust, people might stop their steps. James Joyce looks forward to seeing changes of his country but it’s difficult to change it by his own. In the story, Frank’s showing up is a turning point. He can give Eveline a whole new life. It means that she can run away from her motherland (also for James Joyce). Different from Eveline, James Joyce actually leaves. I think he loves his country and hate it as well but he situation makes him no choice but leave. There must be a lot of conflicts in his mind.
In my opinion, I think James Joyce himself is excellent at portraying the story. To him, the ending isn’t as important as the story itself. First, the story “Araby” begins with a description saying that “North Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour that when the Christian Brother’s School set the boys free.” In this sentence, the word “blind” meanings a dead-end street in simile, but actually the connotation meaning of it is hopeless, cannot see things clearly. This also says that in that corruption age, everything was so stifled and suffocated, gives us a feeling of hard to breath. And the school “set the boys free” implies that how oppressed the Catholic Church is towards its people. In the same paragraph, the houses “gazed at” one another is an interesting usage of personification. And in the fourth paragraph, there are many sense perceptions: “The cold air stung us and we played till our bodies glowed” is touch; “shouts echoed in the silent street” is sound; “the dark dripping gardens where odours arose from the ashpits” is smell. There are also other descriptions combining two senses together at the same time, such as: “a coachman smoothed and combed the horse or shook music from the buckled harness” is the mixture of smell and sound. The main idea of “Araby” is to talk about how the people that surround the boy are spiritual paralyzed, and this makes the passionate boy to stand out from the others.
In the second story, “Eveline”, the story begins with a depressed tone, makes people want to run away from this musty and rusty atmosphere. “Evening invade the avenue” uses personification; “the odour of dusty cretonne” is the sense of smell and it has a feeling that want to escape from this place, this is exactly what the story is about: to get away or to stay, that is a question. The story goes on, “she heard his footsteps clacking along the concrete pavement…” (sound); “…the new red house”(sight) and so on. These are the examples of how he wrote his stories in the book “Dublines”.
The author, James Joyce, used many sensuous descriptions to express connotations in the two stories. There are some descriptions of odors in the stories. For example, in Araby, the author described the air in the dead priest’s room is musty and narrated that there is a odor of dusty cretonne in the heroine’s nostrils in Eveline. I think the two kinds of smell mean that the atmospheres are hopeless and dead. Both of them are narrated in the beginning of the stories, and it makes the stories dreary and gloomy.
For the visual parts, Joyce described the North Richmond Street as a blind street in Araby. It implicates the boy in Araby is blind to his dream, and he is also hopeless to fulfill it. Because the boy wants to pursue Mangan’s sister, he goes to Araby to bring something to the girl. At the end of the story, he finds himself as a creature driven and derided by vanity. In Eveline, the heroine discovers the white of two letters in her lap grows indistinct. It may mean she is crying and her tears make her see not clearly.
For the sounds parts, in Eveline, hearing a street organ playing recalls the heroine’s memories and lets her consider the promise to her mother. It changes the heroine’s mind to escape from her home, and even to drag her back. In Araby, the boy goes to the bazaar and sees two men are counting money on a salver. The sound of the falling coins implicates the disillusionment the boy will have later. He remembers with difficulty why he has come and he is annoyed with his vanity.
First, I would like to share my ideas about ‘Araby.’
In paragraph sixth, “Through one of the broken panes I heard the rain impinge upon the earth, the fine incessant needles of water playing in the sodden beds.” The rain impinging the panes implies that the boy’s infatuation to the lady is gradually invading into his life. The sentence also shows that the society does not recognize the affection. I think that is why the author uses “impinge.” Besides, I think “Broken panes” shows the boy’s sense of insecurity. Maybe is the insecurity toward “love” in that society.
In paragraph 9, ”Her brother and two other boys were fighting for their caps and I was alone at the railings.” I think it shows that the boy is growing up, and the friends around him cannot satisfy his need of company anymore. Falling in love makes the boy consider that he is getting mature. However, it makes him lonely.
In the second story, Eveline, it starts with a depressed sentence. “She sat at the window watching the evening invading the avenue.” I think the girl is thinking about something that really confused her. In my opinion, only people who are thinking would sit beside a window and watch the sunset. Besides, it is a little bit hostile because of the word, invading. Eveline is fighting against the dilemma in her mind.
The author keeps using avenue in the story. I think it is because it is a story about escape, and the avenue is the way for escape.
James Joyce’s technique of writing made me feel dark. First, in “Araby”, he not only used “musty” many times but also had a lot of gloomy words such as winter, dusk, somber. In my opinion, it meant that the leading role was resentful of the world. Second, the leading role, in the beginning, admired a girl and he dreamed of love is beautiful, but it was incorrect. When he saw the woman in the bazaar flirt with two man and ignore him, he got angry. Because he lived in his own world and his environment was conservative, he couldn’t accept the reality. The reality looked like the street of night that was bleak and solitary.
In “Eveline”, I saw the adolescent girl’s worry between her family and freedom. At first, she sat at the window watching the evening invade the avenue which hinted that she was depressed and she wanted to go away. Then she met Frank who was very strange to her. Because his life was contrary to her, she misunderstood her feeling to Frank. When she had an opportunity to leave, she chose to stay in her hometown. I think that is because she was full of uncertainty about the world of outside and she considered herself that she has a duty to take on her mother. When Frank left, Eveline was indifferent , it symbolized that she didn’t love him.
Both stories made me feel that it was hidebound that period. For the boy, I thought that he forced to live in the ivory tower so his mind was proud and aloof. Mention to Eveline, I considered that she should leave and widen her knowledge around the world.
by Cathy
James Joyce is an anti-Catholic.In Araby,we can feel the narrator's scorn for Catholic in first and second paragraph also in second paragraph.Both two stories, James Joyce used personification to justify the attraction of the story,and also used music to enhance the feeling of empty ,also used the words dusty,musty,which makes us understand it used to be a good life , but now everything changed.He used music to enhance his emotion.I found the author liked to describe how the beautiful life was before.He must be upset about the realistic life.In the time point,both two stories are winter ,whose connotation is about decade and empty,and lonely.We can feel the isolation and stagnation are filled with in two books.At last,the boy's heart was broken.And he got epiphany.I felt strong stifled in this book. In the Eveline there are words like white,passive,and helpless.Although she find the man .But she finally didn't choose him,and didn't leave her father ,the anguish she may struggled and in vain."Odour" ,as we saw in both stories , deeply rooted in author mind,also ours.Be realism.
After reading the two stories, I think that the writer, James Joyce, is good at describing stories by using everyday life sense like sound, touch, smell. It can lead us enter the plot deeper and close the characters more. I think the beginning is a metaphor. It is such a beginning: "North Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian Brothers’ school set the boys free." It tells us that the narrator had a dead present. Maybe Blind street meant his hopeless life. And I find the story have many gloomy words such as musty, damp, rusty, somber, dark dripping and so on. Therefore, we can see that ownership is a sentimental boy. He always observed the quiet neighborhood, the noise class students alone, and the memory that the priest accompanied him made him sad and inspired.
In the beginning of : "She sat at the window watching the evening invade the avenue." I think the sentence include personification and a metaphor. It meant something would also invade her boring invariable life. And the second sentence told us about the odour of dusty cretonne, I think the sense of smell meant her life envelop uncomfortable atmosphere. In , the word "dusty" is the best symbolic of her life. Author also used some colour to symbol some meaning. For example, red symbols emotion inside her heart. Count backwards four paragraphs: "A bell clanged upon her heart". It was not a real sense of sound; however, it showed her heart vividly.
If we could have critical eye, we can find a lot of interesting connotation.
After reading the two stories, it doesn’t difficult to find James Joyce devoting to do many descriptions. With these meaningful portrayals make the articles more vivid. In the paragraph five of Araby, it use lots of words to present the noisy, dirty, and stinking market. Through the boy’s sense, we just like experience the setting. Nevertheless, these shrill sounds, weird singings and drunken people are used to contrast with the girl who is as goddess for the boy. The girl he loved and wanted to protect appears in such unsuited place. It forms the distance between the ideal and the reality. The writer also put some hints in, likes the girl’s silver bracelet symbolizes the restriction from Christian world. The boys feel free after the religion school. So, the writer might feel ill in that organization.
In the Eveline, the girl falls into the two embarrassing choices and the place is filled with the swaying crowd. It is not only taking on the mess scene, but also reflecting her mind couldn’t calm down to take the determination.
Both in the two stories, I found the leading characters were chasing for their dreams. In the beginning of the former story, the boy loves the girl silently. He never had a complete communication with her, but only gaze at her in the corner. Later, he changed and had strong desire to do something for her. In the latter story, Evelive chose to leave home and escaped her father’s violence. She is almost attracted by her lover’s plan to possess her own liberty and love. But the two dreams both died by their reality factors.
These two stories wrote by James Joyce gave me a very gloomy feeling. The first sentence in Araby : “ North Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian Brothers’ School set the boy free.” The word “blind” seemed so hopeless. He used some words like: musty, rusty, somber, etc. It made people feel so burdensome. The pure love of the boy was innocence and filled with passion, but the reality was pretty cruel. The terrible attitude of his uncle, the dark and empty bazaar and the flirting between the woman and the two men formed a striking contrast to the pure love of the boy. The isolation and stagnation of the boy turned into disillusionment in the end.
The story Eveline also described some old memories at first. The gloomy feeling appeared again. The odour of dusty cretonne had some similar metaphors with the odours of the ashpits in Araby. The two differently strong feelings crashed together again. This extremely suffering and struggle of Eve twisted the love of her father and the love of Frank. The good memory when her mother was lived comparing the squabbles with her father now also made people feel depressed. The conflict inside the heart of the boy in Araby and the girl in Eveline was the most wonderful part. The ending of this story was similar with Araby, James Joyce only described the facial expression of them. However the details were hidden, we had to guess what happened in the end.
Araby
The paragraph 1:
The first paragraph means people who live together didn’t care others life. Auther use the “blind” “detached” “quite” words to show the indifferent between these people.
The paragraph 2:
It’s show the last generation still have the heart of concerned with other people. The former tenant is a priest show the kind of people. The apple tree and the bicycle pump show the heaven and hope. But the apple tree lived in a disused yard and the bump is rusty. Show that the last generation of the good couldn’t past to this generation.
The paragraph 13:
His uncle answered curtly, show that no one care his dream, his love.
The paragraph 19:
His uncle back to home. It’s show the little hope of his love.
The paragraph 26:
The dialogue between the women and the men made he feel embarrassed. He love the girl, but the adults show the dirty of the love, and the woman shows the distrust of him.
The last two paragraph:
The bazaar was closed and the last light was disappeared. This show the hope of the boy was end.
Eveline
The paragraph 2:
She still recalled the memory. Although she will leave, but she still miss here.
The paragraph 3&4:
The priest show that she doesn’t wan’t to leave home. Although his father punished her for a long time, here was still her home. If she leave, no one could care her father. The memory catched her. The memory make her couldn’t make a decision.
The paragraph 13:
“mother’s bonner” show the good of her father.
I want to talk about Araby first. In the beginning of the story, the author mentions that there is a blind street, a house stands at the blind end, and a square ground. I feel a little chokey after reading the first paragraph. I think perhaps James Joyce wants to imply that it is a happy story, and it’s truly not a happy story. The curled and damp books which the leaves are yellow give me an old image which the atmosphere is lifeless. Even though there is a bicycle-pump which might mean to pump or to give the new air to this lifeless place, it is rusty and useless. In the following paragraphs, I nearly can emotional change of the boy from full of expectation to full of disappointment, which also means his fantasy is broken. Because the whole story is written in fist person, it seems that I were the boy in the story, and I think that the author wants to tell us that every one may have this kind of experience once in our lives.
Being different from the Araby, the Eveline is written in the third person. It seems that I am watching the short drama instead reading a story. I think the sense perceptions used most are the sight and sound. The story starts in the evening not the morning, which gives a plaintive feeling, and it’s not a happy story actually. Then, the girl starts to recall her memories of the old days, and the comparisons between the good days and sad ones. And I think the key point is the sound of the street organ, and she remembers the promise. In the last part of the story, which is my favorite part, uses lots of sounds and sight and makes the story tight. Then it ends in a scene that Eveline’s eyes give Frank no sign of love or farewell or recognition, and the story ends so suddenly.
In the beginning of the Araby, the narrator described the North Richmond Street as blind and quiet. On the whole, it seems that it is just a blind street. In fact, it means that the author, James Joyce, can’t see things clearly in the Catholic society. A dead lane symbolizes a dead present. In the third paragraph, the narrator also describes the depressing atmosphere under the suppression of Catholic. At the end of the story, the narrator told us that he gazed up into the darkness and saw himself as a creature driven and derided by vanity. The metaphor of this sentence indicates that the boy’s anger and anguish toward the disillusionment against all the things that he considered sacred before.
In Eveline, James Joyce also uses many religious symbols to show the implication of the Catholic religion in the characters' lives and the desire of freedom, the same as Araby. Both of Arby and Eveline start with the darkness of evening. In Eveline, the odor of dusty cretonne suggests that Eveline desired to get rid of not only her past but her miserable childhood so badly. The sound of a street organ playing an Italian tune, which is a reminder of her mother's death, evoked her memories of her mother. She didn’t want to end up like her dead mother. However, in the end of the story, the long mournful whistle of the boat shook her resolve, she began to hesitate whether she would escape or not. Upon the bell clanging, she got an epiphany. Finally, she chose her father instead of Frank.
First I want to talked about Araby, in the sentence “The light from the towards 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. It fell over one side of her dress and caught the white border of a petticoat, just visible as she stood st ease.” I thought in the paragraph the writer description the girl as a pure girl. It also reflect that the image in boy’s mind in wonderful and pure. In the last sentence “white border of a petticoat” I thought is strengthen the pure image in boy’s mind.
Second I want to talked about Eveline, in the sentence “she looked round the room, reviewing all its familiar objects which she had dusted once a week for so many years, wondering where on earth all the dust came from. Perhaps she would never dream of being divided.” I thought in the sentence the dust is mean that the memory in her mind. It also can mean that many things in the home that she can’t take away. Because she can’t bring the dust away. She also wondering where the dust come from, it maybe mean that she also have the doubt where is her home, where she can stay.
Shawn:
1. Araby
In “Araby”, the attraction of new love and distant places mix with the familiarity of everyday work, and with frustrating consequences. In the story, the brown of the buildings that line the street and prompt the color of images of Arabia. And when the bazaar closes down, the boy realizes that Mangan’s sister will fail his expectations, and that his desire for her is actually only a vain wish for change. The boy seems to explain arrival the bazaar as fading into darkness as a sign that his relationship with Mangan’s sister will also remain just a wishful idea and that his infatuation was as misguided as his fantasies about the bazaar. In the summary, I think the author suggests that all people experience frustrated desire for love and new experiences.
2. Eveline
In “Eveline”, the story illustrates the trap of holding onto the past when facing the future. Here is the first portrait of a female in Dubliners, and I think it reflects the conflicting pulls many women in early twentieth-century Dublin felt between a household life rooted in the past and the possibility of a new married life abroad, and her action is the first sign that she in fact hasn’t made a decision, but instead remains fixed in a circle of indecision.
To compare with “Araby” and “Eveline”, I found some similar and some different point between these two articles. Both of them were written as third-person, the positions of the leading roles were poor, and the moods were sorrow.
In the “Araby”, the leading man is a naive and optimistic boy, although his life was not well, when he saw Mangan’s sister, the girl who he like, it would suddenly made him filled with hope. He believed that love is wonderful, till he went to the Arab market, and saw the vendor flirting with two men, it made him realize the fact of love, is really cruel.
And, in the ”Eveline”, due to Eveline’s mother dead, she needed not only to undertake her father’s mistreat, but also bear the economic source to maintain her brother’s learning. Then, she met a sailor, Frank, who urged her to elope with him. It was very attracted Eveline, because she really wanted freedom. One side is a man who she loves and the freedom she wants, and the other side is her family. This situation became a huge conflict, and made her very struggle. Finally, she chose the family side, abandoned boyfriend and freedom side. After all, blood thicker than water.
These two stories gave me similar feeling, both they were no clear ending, so I need to visualize by myself, but the atmosphere were sorrow, it made me wonder that are bad endings.
Kendrick:
First I would like to talk about the Araby. In Araby, through the use of a first person narrative, Joyce communicates the confused thoughts and dreams of his young male protagonist. Joyce uses this familiarity with the narrator's feelings to evoke in readers a response similar to the boy's "epiphany"—a sudden moment of insight and understanding—at the turning point of the story. though these boys "career" around the neighbourhood in a very childlike way, they are also aware of and interested in the adult world, as represented by their spying on the narrator’s uncle as he comes home from work and, more importantly, on Mangan’s sister, whose dress “swung as she moved” and whose “soft rope of hair tossed from side to side.” These boys are on the brink of sexual awareness and, awed by the mystery of the opposite sex, are hungry for knowledge.
The second story Eveline, is written in the third person. It seems that I am watching the play instead reading a story. The story starts in the evening, which gives a plaintive feeling, and it’s not a happy story actually. The sound of a street, which is a reminder of her mother's death, evoked her memories of her mother. She didn’t want to end up like her dead mother. At the dock where she and Frank are ready to embark on a ship together, Eveline is deeply conflicted and makes the painful decision not to leave with him. Nonetheless, her face registers no emotion at all.
Like Araby, Eveline features a circular journey, where a character decides to go back to where their journey began, and where the result of their journey is disappointment and reluctance to travel.
Araby and Eveline are both composed with many sense of description. First, Darkness is used throughout the story. Joyce's story begins at dusk and the evening during the winter, in Ireland. James Joyce uses dark and gloomy to describe the setting of Araby meaning a hopeless future and dead end. It also reflects the society atmosphere of author’s country which faces the problem of spirit paralysis. To my surprised, the priest has such rich heritage. Actually, the author insinuates the corruption of Catholicism. The author doesn’t describe the beauty of Mangan's sister directly, but uses the bright light when describing her in order to give her a heavenly presence. Light is used to create a joyful atmosphere. Since main character plans to go to Araby bazaar for buying heroine a gift. Everything begin to obstruct him, such as schoolwork, dinner, his uncle’s lateness. When main character arrived, it’s too late to buy anything. In the end author uses “darkness” again to describe the bazaar’s close, means his dream also be shattered.
Second, in the Eveline, James Joyce describes character vividly, especially their state of mind. The setting of story is in Dublin, Ireland in the early 20th century. Women at that time are restricted in domestic life, so does Eveline. The climax of story is the choice between her lover and his family, which respectfully represent pursuing dream and obey to the destiny. Author seems to push the reader to give up their everyday routine instead of taking chances, In fact, the idea of taking chances is seen to be dangerous.
The description of sense perceptions to express one’s mental feelings implicitly is a writing skill that manifested in James Joyce’s articles. This is especially obvious in the beginning of "Araby" and "Eveline." In “Araby,” the author set the scene to bring the moods via narrating the perceptions of the living environments. The first sentence describes a street “being blind;” in surface level it means that is a dead-end street. But this would not be the exact meaning that the author intends to say but implies or connotes the boy’s mentality of hopeless, helpless and powerless. Life enters into a dead-end, he cannot foresee (therefore, using the word “blind”) the future, but no light and no hope. The term “blind”, therefore, is really an ingenious usage. It is a term about vision but strongly leads readers to have low sentiment. In other words, a skillful writer will avoid using the terms such as hopeless, sorrow, disappointment and so on to express directly but may choose sensuous words to elicit readers’ feelings.
Besides, in the first two paragraphs of "Araby," there are sensuous descriptions such as “blown” imperturbable faces, “musty” air, “old” useless papers, “curl and damp” pages, “yellow” leaves, “rusty” bicycle-pump. In the third paragraph, there are more sensuous words such as “dusk,” “sombrous,” “cold,” “dark muddy lanes,” “dark dripping gardens,” dark odorous stables,” and so on. These tend to elicit downcast atmospheres of the scene and gloomy feelings of the boy, and it seems we may guess what the inclination of the article would be from these words.
In "Eveline," James Joyce also elicits sensuous responses from the readers by the sense descriptions. Take the first two paragraphs for examples. In the first sentence said that the girl sat at the window watching the evening invade the avenue. This sunset watching seems to imply a dull feeling invading her heart, and later comes the odour of dusty cretonne in her nostrils. The odour of dusty cretonne represents her mentality of tiredness and gloominess. But life is not boring all the time. She recalls that the new red houses were used to be a field to play and for fun every evening. The image of new red color, and also the built bright brick houses with shining roofs, implies the happy memories in her heart, even most of the children lived in the little brown houses. Here we readers can obviously sense the feelings of the girl via these color descriptions, contrasting the colorful experiences of the past with the tedium present.
Kent Lin
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