The story Araby is included in the series of the so-called Dubliners written by James Joyce. The series still fascinates its readers with epiphany, used in each story. The use of the device of epiphany means that the end of the story is unexpected and abrupt while the plot of the story is quite trivial and casual. In Joyce’s terms, the epiphany is the moment, when the character’s essence is revealed. One of them, namely the story Araby, is considered to be one of the most interesting and opening a vast area for study the symbols, meanings and tokens, embodied in the story. The author managed to combine an intriguing plot, which holds the reader in suspense with the numerous devices, which give the people, analyzing the story an area to develop their analysis and to forth assumptions and argument on the plot. The author arranged a bulk of metaphors, symbols, motives and devices in an interesting story, which is worth being read and analyzed for years.
Firstly, it is necessary to point out, that the author embodies a number of symbols in the story, which are sometimes hard to be understood. For example, one can easily fail mentioning the church as a symbol. Still, the “Church” can be considered as central and moreover a recurrent symbol which appears in the story. The story starts with this symbol of “an uninhabited house.., stood at the blind end…, detached” and ends up with it. The loneliness of the church building, its darkness can be compared with the boy’s state. He also feels very lonely. This filling overwhelms him, while he is describing the house. Next, the author puts windows, which are metaphorically gazing at one another. The symbol of those windows is an anticipation of some events which are going to unfold in the future. The symbol of windows was used by the author when a little boy was looking at the girl’s appearance. And also the symbol of windows somehow separates the life from the outside from that one, inside. People, being within their houses, still can observe what is it there outside. But no matter how they try, they can not observe what are the people inside their houses are doing. Consequently, it separates personal and public. The next symbol, used by the author appears in the other stories of Dubliners volume. This is the symbol of darkness, which is felt in the air. All the stories in the series are melancholic ones, which are depicted without the usage of bright colors, picturesque views. One more proof to this point is a rarely sees “central apple tree”, which the boy mentions while describing the place, where he lives. This mentioned tree underlines the somber mood, prevailing in the stories and the rare happiness, which is sometimes in store for the characters. Reverting to the symbol of darkness, it is believed to stand for the intervening state of the characters. The usage of symbols has always been a starting point to argue about, as different people and theorists see different symbols. It is a rather biased assumption, than a determined fact that everybody should agree upon one list of the symbols used and the matters they stand for.
The other devices, used in the story boil down to the epiphany and some motifs, which go through the stories from Dubliners series as a leitmotif of them all. Besides, motifs help the reader to perceive the better understanding of the themes, included in the story. The epiphany, used in Araby as a sudden end, may denote the life, which is so changeable and dynamic, that no one knows what to expect what is going to happen tomorrow. So, a plain and seemingly casual plot of the story turns out to be an interesting composition worth reading it more than once. The story is also exploring crucial motifs, like daily routine and the maturity of the narrator. Again, the motifs used help the story Araby to stand out in a cycle of other stories.
Making a conclusion, it is necessary to mention, that the series of Dubliners, written by Joyce and especially the story Araby with the symbols, metaphors and other devices, used by the author within the text, was read and analyzed in the past, is being read and analyzed now and will be read and analyzed in the future. And it does not necessarily mean that the present analysis of it will not be developed or understood in a different way as the niceties of the plot, chosen by Joyce are so complex and multisemantic, that one is able to present more than one comprehension of it. The recurring symbol of the church, of the windows, of darkness may be substituted by some other ones or supplemented with the other ones. At the same time, epiphany and other devices (motifs) can be likewise complemented and so on. The complex understanding of such a small story, gives grounds to forth assumption, that it is a commemorated piece of writing.
Works Cited
Araby study Guide by James Joyce: Themes Study Guide. Glampublisernetwork. Web.