James Joyce’s Representation of Love in Araby

What is love? Love is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a feeling or disposition of deep affection or fondness for someone. Love is an emotion that we as humans want to pursue and eventually fulfil. James Joyce disagreed with this perception through his short story “Araby”. Araby, represents love as a display of worthlessness which will inevitably lead to a lower quality of life. Joyce represents this idea through the protagonist’s human experiences and how they vary.

Throughout the short story, Joyce leaves the narrator nameless; an adolescent Catholic schoolboy and his love interest “Magan’s sister”. By adopting this anonymity, the author removes the narrator’s self-identity and allows him to follow his shallow perception of love. Joyce sets the boy living in an oppressive and joyless environment, in which the narrator cannot detach himself from his dark surroundings, until he finds the girl to immerse himself into, distracting himself. Joyce demonstrates this through the narrator’s description of “Magans sister.” The visual image Joyce presents the reader is completely physical; “a lamp….. caught the white curve of her neck, lit up her hair that rested there”. This vivid imagery reflects the boy’s physical appreciation of only her exterior with utter disregard for her interior. This is displayed further through the symbolism of her vaguely fulfilling the shape of a lit lamp, highlighting his lack of knowledge concerning her personality. Thus, Joyce beings to demonstrate how the narrator allocates her personality traits through physical observations. Joyce critiques society, questioning why humans fall in love and are satisfied through aesthetics before any intimate personal connection.

To further enquire Joyce’s concern; the narrator questions his own motive through his journey. After by-passing obstacles to reach the market, and near to finishing his quest succeeding and finding love, he had a suddenly realised he was “a creature driven and derided by vanity”. He thinks of himself as a creature in the passive voice, shamed on the effect of the journey on his character. This anti-climactic ending throws the audience from their expectations forcing the reader to question their own pursuit of love and whether it is worth the sacrifice. Joyce challenges the belief of how love is fulfilling, pressing that it only acts as to isolate oneself from true friendships which will ultimately decrease the satisfaction and quality of life, asserting that the friendships are more important than love.

The beginning of the story the narrator reflects on the experiences that he shared with his friends, stating how “their shouts echoed in the silent street”. The use silence, highlights the absence of noise evoking the accustomed idea of silence equals fear and loneliness. However, Joyce draws attention to how their shouts filled the empty space, and the important role of friendships and how they can overcome difficult emotional challenges.

Joyce dismisses the belief that love is fulfilling, and expresses how the journey of love will lead to pain, self-issolation and the less of the important friendships. Through anonymities, vivid imagery, imagery, contrast and symbolism the author is able to express his doubts about love. Joyce adds that the pain produced through the journey to find love is often worthless and unfulfilling, due to the anti-climactic ending. To this he asks the question is love really worth it?