"Araby" by James Joyce: Broken Expectations

Dublin Ireland in 1914 was a place of poverty and religious restraint, under the governing hand of the Christian Church. A place where literary diversity was primarily limited to that of Irish biblical poets. James Joyce, published the short story “Araby” as a modern activist who focused on English literature. As a story from the early 20th century, my expectations were that of a simple plot diagram, easily distinguishing between the climax and falling action. Although, Joyce broke all pre-conceived ideas of what the outline for a short story could be. Joyce was the leading modernist writer for the 20th century and changed how the reader views one’s own perception of life.

Araby is a story that demands complete concentration, one that I struggled to find a meaning for on my first pass. With my initial expectation being developed over years of reading books with happy endings, I spent the last few paragraphs looking for exactly that. Previous readings of pieces in Ireland post 19th century had me expecting to see a predominantly Christian influenced piece. One that talked of enlightenment or seeking faith. I had known Joyce had some pieces that were banned from Ireland by the church, but I expected a traditional piece of atheism. While reading the story I was surprised to see the use of “stream of consciousness” narrative mode. Slowly, you could see the seven deadly sins being displayed by the main character. Beginning with lust and sloth, I was not expecting to see this in a book from the time. Breaking the seven deadly sins resulted in being punished in hell and thrown into the pit of snakes. Eventually, my expectations shifted to the thought I was missing a critical meaning of the story. The rising action was intruding into the typical space for climax, my initial expectations were beginning to fall apart. Joyce’s explanation of the girl he was lusting over was that of the virgin marry, a confusing comparison for a piece about an apparently traditional boy.

The closing paragraph left me in a state of dissatisfaction. I asked myself, “Where is the conclusion? The explanation of him leaving the bizarre empty handed?”. I immediately re-read the story and began to see the references to an epiphany, the sudden realization that his life wasn’t all he thought it to be. I began to think about my own life and how I could relate to the characters disillusioned thoughts on how he saw the world. All he needed was a change of perspective, something so obvious he nor I had seen it until now. With each re-examination of Araby, my previous expectations were surpassed. There was a hidden message of the daily drudgery of which I could relate, an interesting twist. The final epiphany was integral to breaking my expectation as it was the final crack to my hope for a happy ending. It wasn’t an epiphany of favourable enlightenment, but that of a painful realization, one that I and many others experience in our coming of age. Abandonment, complete loss of care, a realization that fantasies have been misled