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Araby
Jennifer (499110466)
Professor- Kate Liu
Before reading this article, I was conjecturing what was the basic meaning of
“Araby”. Is it a name of a person? Or is it te? Nevertheless, after perusing this whole
story, I finally understood that the topic “Araby” is a metaphor to our reality lives –
which displayed the conflicts between romantic dream and ruthless actuality.
The author described the main character in a different way. Just like “An Old
Man with Enormous Wings”, there wasn’t any criticism words but we can still catch
on what the author wanted to show to readers. For example, the author didn’t
displayed the little boy’s mental state in a vivid description; however, through the
action such as following Mangan’s sister to school or watching her door, we can sure
to have a clear imagination that how the little boy has adored Mangan’s sister and
what he had felt toward the eagerness and illusion to love. Another example is based
on the little boy’s personality. The author didn’t directly point out what the main
personality did this little boy has; however, through the paragraphs in the story, we
knew that he is a boy that has not realize (tense) the cruelty of this society. We knew
that Plato has his own definition to a dream world, and so does this little boy. In his
pure mind, there’s an ideal world which full of his own words and romantic feelings
through lives.
This story shows symbolism in many ways not only in the environment
background but also in the character’s mental state. Due to the sentence “North
Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street …… ”, it symbolized that the main
character in this story didn’t have another choice in this environment. Those gruesome,
dark houses and gardens on the street symbolize the darkness and rottenness of the
society. It seemed to be destiny that the little boy’s ideal world is sure to be has a
conflict with reality. And it also hint the point that the little boy might be fail at the
same time. In my opinion, the name “Araby” is not only a name of the market but also
a metaphor of the main character’s dream world. Plato, one of the greatest philosopher,
has his dream Utopia; same, the little boy has his own ideal world Araby as well. It is
a goal not only the little boy wants to explore and pursue but also an ideal state of
world that he build for himself. The author used numerous techniques to depict how
eager did the little boy want to get to the market. Because of the expectation, the
disappointment of losing will be much more intense.
The main point in Araby which the author wanted to discuss about is the spirit
realizes from experience. As what we discovered is that the author didn’t directly
describe how the little boy’s heart feel but she used another way to let us understand.
By through what the main character has seen and heard, it can lead us to the
emotional world which the boy has. Though there wasn’t any soliloquy from the little
boy; however, the action he did can reflect the truly (word form) emotion from his
deep heart. When the little boy finally arrived at the market, through all the
difficulties, what he saw was absolutely different from which he used to think. The
author used a strong ironic way here, which not only gave a vivid description but also
shook the readers. Since the young lady in the market seemed to have spoken to the
little boy out of a sense of duty, the world which he used to image about was
collapsed. Though the young lady and two gentlemen were just flirt and laugh (tense)
to each other, this usual action has already made a huge change to the little boy’s
mental state. And this made him begin to recognize the society which he was in. He
realized that this is reality, a world which he couldn’t fulfill his ideal here. A journey
for pursuing love and his own “Utopia”, the little boy finally ended up understanding
this merciless fact.
Due to this story, we can clearly see the way of using symbolism and objective
description. Since the story began from the little boy’s admiration to Mangan’s sister,
it then has a climax when he entered to the market. This story not only shows a little
boy’s spiritual state but also the truth of the society where we lived. We are always
searching for our own “Araby”; however, life isn’t as easy as what we think. The
realistic part is always brutal. The pursuit of love and ideal from the little boy actually
brought him to experience an itinerary (word choice) of self-understanding.
I like that you thought “Araby” is actually the protagonist’s vision of an utopian
society, but maybe you could have elaborated on what that society would be like for
the boy. What exactly are the boy’s ideals? What changes do you think he desires?
Interesting main argument, but the supporting points could have been more fully
developed. Overall score: 8