Epiphany is a literary metaphor in which characters are struck with life-changing insights that change the course of history. Simple everyday encounters and experiences often cause revelation. Joyce introduced epiphany as a sudden revelation in the novel The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. It is the moment when an ordinary object is understood in such a way as to reveal its deeper meaning.
The perceiver may experience euphoria as a result of revelation. Joyce work’s most famous epiphany comes when Stephen notices the girl wading in the sand: “A girl stood before him in midstream, alone and still, gazing out to sea. She seemed like one whose magic had changed into the likeness of a strange and beautiful sea creature” (Joyce, 1916, p. 185). Stephen has just realized that he is an artist, and this weird and lovely figure is a symbol of his certainty. She is, in a sense, Stephen’s Muse. She is enigmatic, as all spiritual revelations are based on a sense of mystery. She has the appearance of a bird, as the word has come to him in the form of a bird. She is a seabird in the midst of life’s ebb and flow. She is also linked to the dove, which conjures up images of the Annunciation and the descent of the Holy Spirit, which includes the gift of tongues.
Aside from these major epiphanies, the story contains a number of minor epiphanies. Stephen’s understanding of the meaning of the phrases ‘tower of ivory’ and ‘home of gold,’ for example, was an epiphany. Despite the fact that Stephen had heard these phrases multiple times, he had no idea what they meant. Another example of epiphany is the moment when he learns that the ‘tower of ivory’ refers to the sensation of Eileen’s hand in his pocket. ‘House of Gold’ describes Eileen’s hair, which flowed out behind her like gold in the sunlight. Finally, when Stephen sees the word ‘Foetus’ etched on his father’s college desk, it jolts him since it conjures up all of his youth’s monstrosities. Thus, it was a life-changing insight for him and could be considered an epiphany.
Araby is a contemporary short story with a symbolically constructed premise. A symbol is used to convey a theme, idea, or matter in modern literature symbolism. To the young author of the short novel, ‘Araby’ represents an ideal of life, an ideal of romance and beauty. This is symbolized by the great longing of a youthful mind immersed in the mundane and intercourses of everyday life. ‘Araby’ is the symbolic representation of romantic and beautiful thought. After his real journey to Araby, the author’s obsession with the country, his dream of a life full of romance and charm, proved to be a complete fantasy. This is a powerful metaphor of how, in the face of the harsh reality of highly material living, the romantic ideal stays eerily out of reach.
Reference
Joyce, J. (1916). The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. B. W. Huebsch.