"Araby"
At
first glance, James Joyce’s “Araby” might appear the short story of a boy’s
love and disappointment. After all, when the boy says that his body is like a
harp and Mangan’s sister’s words and gestures are like fingers running upon the
wires, we can easily see his enthusiastic love toward her while we can see his
frustration when he sees himself as a creature driven and derided by vanity.
However, on the other hand, his intense wordings implicate that the motivation of
frustration is not just derived from the emotion of love. Therefore, it
is perhaps more accurate to assume that “Araby”
is a boy’s observation of paralysis in society, Dublin, and the gap between
reality and ideals rather than a diary about his love story. In this sense, the
repeated usage of “blind” in the description of North Richmond Street or O’Donovan
Rossa, a ballad about the troubles in the boy’s native land, demonstrate the “paralysis”
in Dublin. Also, “an Eastern enchantment” shows ideals of a boy while “the
gallery that the light was out” and “completely dark” symbolize the reality,
paralysis, in shelter, Araby. Finally, we can interpret the last sentence of
the short story as the expression of a pain from the epiphany that he cannot
escape from this paralysis.
"Eveline"
People easily evaluate James Joyce’s “Eveline”
as the short story about the patriarch society and repression of women. Indeed,
Eveline, the main protagonist, sometimes felt herself in danger of her father’s
violence while his father restrains her in various ways like occupying wage. Also,
the will of her mother makes Eveline sacrifice for family, a traditional role
of women, and interrupts Eveline’s new life. It is doubtful, however, that
Eveline’s abandonment of her future is not related to “paralysis,” which is the
main theme of “Dubliners.” Then, the possible interpretation of the short story
will be the description of “paralysis” of bravery. Actually, the examples of
this kind of “paralysis” are easily found throughout the story. For example, her
thought about her father, “he would miss her, sometimes he could be very nice”
suggests that she is afraid of breaking traditional manner. Also, Eveline who “sets
her white face to him, passive, like a helpless animal” demonstrates the lethargy,
or the paralysis of bravery. More interesting point is that young character,
Eveline, suffers this paralysis of bravery, which symbolizes the skeptical view
about the courage of younger generations in Ireland.
