Reading - Araby by James Joyce
Journal #4


        I realize now that I want to talk a little bit more about Araby . One thing that I forgot to comment on in my first journal was the fact that the narrator in this story in parentless. He lives with his aunt and uncle and when I read the story I wondered why.  I think I now have it figured out. After reading a little of Portrait of the Artist and then reading this story in class, I decided to try and learn more about what James Joyce was all about. It's all about deviating from the familiar. For Joyce, the “familiar” was exemplified by Ireland and the family unit. The extraordinary moment of revelation at the end of Araby (the strange curios, the bazaar) are just like the deviations from the ordinary, the national, and the familial. Basically, because it's a short story, he has to accelerate the deviation from normality, thus discarding the family unit from the picture. Even though I’m not sure that was the intention, it does seem like a really James Joyce thing to do. Also there's the fact that none of the characters have names. I think that might also be another rejection of normality, but I think it most likely is not. Perhaps he just chose to neglect the names because he thought it was unnecessary to have names in a story about the promise and eventually disappointment in a boy's idea of love. . I also wanted to talk about how the narrator pretty much abandons all of his friends and stops caring about schoolwork in pursuit of a girl that he doesn’t know anything about. Even thought none of the characters are named I wouldn't be surprised if the narrator simply didn't know hers. He truly was a creature derided and driven by vanity.  I really enjoyed Araby for what it was and I’m hoping that I can find that same enjoyment in Portrait. It is going rather slowly but I have high hopes for the second half of the book which I hear is phenomenal.