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Allyn Tuff
Dr. Hobbs
English 122 CA 16
1/14/09
Araby
The story Araby was not created solely for the purpose of a reader’s entertainment, but to makes points about living in everyday life, and what obstacles to look out for. The three main points to the story Araby in my opinion, were to insist that a temporary passion should not oversee regular a day’s needs, that one shouldn’t get his or her hopes up to the point where you are no longer thinking tactically, and that you should not make a promise unless you are absolutely sure you can live up to it.
First, I am going to explain my reasoning for believing the first point of the story is that temporary passion should not oversee a regular day’s needs. School is a very important part of daily needs, because it determines whether or not somebody is educated. According to the story, on the morning the narrator went to the araby, he had school, but didn’t pay attention. It says in the story that he thought school was childish, and didn’t matter. Well as most would agree, school is very important and if someone doesn’t pay attention in school, they do not learn, and therefore they are not educated.
Next I am going to explain why the second point of the story is that one shouldn’t get his or her hopes up to the point where you can no longer think tactically. In the story, the uncle of the narrator didn’t want to listen to him when he asked to go to the Araby because he was in a hurry to leave the house. By the time his uncle got home it was already nine o’clock. Any person in the right mind would know that businesses usually close at nine or ten o’clock, but he was so set on going that he didn’t even think of this before he left. When he got there he found out that there was a very few amount of business stalls that were still open, and he was extremely let down. If he would have thought tactically, he would not have been so disappointed with the outcome.
Last, I am going to explain why the final point to this story is that one should not make a promise unless you are absolutely sure you can live up to it. There was a girl that the narrator had love for in the story. In fact she was the reason that he went to the Araby in the first place. She had came over to his house and asked him if he wanted to have her tickets to go to the araby because she had to go to a Christian retreat on that date. He took the tickets and promised her that he would buy her something, but couldn’t follow through with it because everything closed down. Now that that happened the situation got a lot worse because she thought she was going to get a gift from him, but he broke his promise and did not get her anything.
Araby is a good story once one can understand the essential points that the story makes. The points that were made in this story are that one should never let a temporary passion get in the way of every day needs, one should never get his or her hopes up to the point where they can no longer think tactical, and one should never make a promise he or she cannot keep. Once I found these points, I loved the story.

Alicia Roddenberg
Dr. Hobbs
Eng 122 CA16
02-18-09
Setting of James Joyce’s “Araby”
In James Joyce’s “Araby”, the surroundings help to show the irony and set the mood. As the story begins there is plenty of detail to paint a picture of the desolate street in the readers mind. The main character, whom you are able to gather is a young boy, is vying for the attention of one of the neighborhood girls. Through out the story the setting switches between the inside of the young boys house, and the culdesack in which the house is located. The way in which Joyce gives specific details of certain backgrounds shows the importance to the story of this area. The setting plays such am important role in the development of the story that it can influence the characters and your opinions of them.
Through the descriptive words Joyce chose to describe specific object of the scenery allows for an atmosphere to develop. “If you find descriptions of shapes, light and shadows, animals, wind, and sounds, you may be sure that the author is creating an atmosphere or mood for the actions” (Roberts). The story is either taking place during dusk or in the night. “When we met in the street, the houses had grown somber” (Joyce). This shows that the streets were quiet and mainly empty; demonstrating the type of people who live in this area as well as possibly the way the young boy feels in the story. This can reveal the symbolism of the short story.
The end of the story has the young boy leaving the bazaar in anger, which leaves many questions unanswered. The question being what exactly does the author expect you to take away from this story, is there a lesson to learn? The character of Mangan’s sister is symbolic because she influences the main character through out the entire story. She represents something the boy wishes for, similar to other hopes her presumably has. The hope to better his situation is evident in the entire short story. It is easily noticed in the description of the boy’s home “The high cold empty gloomy rooms liberated me and I went form room to room singing” (Joyce).
From the story we are able to develop our own interpretation of the boys past. From his surroundings we learn a lot about the quality of life in Dublin at the time of the story. “One of the major purposes of literary setting is to establish realism or verisimilitude” (Roberts). The author allows the connections between the character and his settings to develop over time helps to create a realistic storyline. The young boy is driven by love, and is determined to demonstrate that to the one he yearns for. This is a relatable feeling for most, and makes the main character more full to the reader.
It is clear that without the descriptions of the settings in “Araby” we would be unable to relate to the characters. The settings allow for the atmosphere of the story to be placed, and opens the characters to the readers. Joyce maintains control of the situations the story travels through by giving effective descriptions and evolving the characters surroundings.

Works Cited
Joyce, James. “Araby”. A Prentice Hall pocket reader Literature.
edited by Mary McAleer Balkun. Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2005. pages 61-6
Roberts, Edgar V. Writing about Literature. Brief 11th ed. Saddle River, NJ: Pearson,
2006. page 109-18.

Sasha-ann Jarrett
Dr. Hobbs
English 122 – CA17
March 3, 20009
Religious Beliefs Make Decisions
Araby, written by James Joyce, is the story of a young man with a lustful crush on his friend's sister. Throughout the story, religion is continuously being mentioned and can be identified as the writer’s use of symbolism. The careful use of symbolism relates to how the young man is torn in between his religious beliefs and his feelings.
At the beginning of the story, Joyce starts the reader off with a religious symbol in the first line, “North Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian Brothers’ School set the boys free (page 61).” The street is quiet and calm except when the boys are set free, from the eyes of the church and the eyes of parents. Thus giving the reader a reason why the main character is torn between his feelings. As the eyes of “God” are constantly watching his every move, making sure he abides by the rules of his religion.
Another symbolism within the story “Araby” is highlighted when the religious priest died behind the back of the main character’s house. The priest is also an obvious symbol, but the description of the room where he died is more revealing, “Air, musty from having been long enclosed, hung in all the rooms, and the waste room behind the kitchen was littered with old useless papers” (page 61). The priest’s old room smells like a jail cell, making the air a prisoner of the room. As the air is a prisoner of the room, so is the main character within his religion.
The main character is trapped within his religion because it restricts him from doing certain things. Similarly the air is trapped in the room. This symbolism of Araby and his religion could be said to be cultural. It can be interpreted as cultural, as the religion that he is a part of looks down upon young men, in his case, who choose to partake in secular activities rather than spiritual ones, especially because of his feelings for a girl. But yet his aunt still persuades his uncle to take him, which signifies the cultural aspect, for other members may not have allowed this. His intense urge to go to the bazaar, causes his aunt to notice it and says to him “I’m afraid you may put off your bazaar for this night of Our Lord” (page 64).
It is said that the religion that we belong to, influences our behavior and our decisions, but this has not yet been proven. However, the story of Araby could prove this to be true. The writer makes it appear this way because of how and where he places the symbols in the story. He makes the symbols give the reader a clear and vivid picture and the reason why they are situated in the story. It’s as though everything that the main character does, or rather the decisions he makes are all referred to something religious, making the reader grasp the intent and quickly connects the dots.

Baumgardner 1
Ryan Baumgardner
Dr. Hobbs
ENG 122 Academic Writing II
26 February, 2009
The factors of Araby’s Life
In this short story the author James Joyce creates many littler factors in Araby’s everyday life that hint to us the history and place of the story. He let us know how the main character feels about religion. He lets us know were the story takes place by giving us a real road name. Even though the story has a timeless theme, the theme of lost love, there are contextual clues to the stories origin. The time in history that Araby takes place is either very late 1800’s, but most likely very early 1900s.
The story starts off by the author telling us that the main character lives on “North Richmond Street” (Joyce 61). This gives us historical location. That street is a real street in Dublin Ireland, so that leads us to believe this is where Araby takes place. In the Roberts text he says “when reading for historical and contextual evidence, look to see is the characters are religious” (Roberts 147). Almost every paragraph in the story they mention the Christian religion, leading us to believe the main character was Christian. The story takes place in a time when Christianity was heavily dominating that also supports our early 20th century theory.
They mention how different characters meet for tea at different times which makes us think of Europe where tea is a favorite. Tea to people in England, France, and Ireland is cultural favorite. I think the author makes it tough at first when looking for historical information because he never tells a time or place, but he leaves little clues that take a second reading to catch. He mentions the different books the priest owned. All were published in the 1870’s letting us know it was after that time period.

Baumgardner 3
Work Cited
Joyce, James. “Araby.” Prentice Hall Pocket Reader. Ed. Balkun, Mary. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006. 61-66.
Roberts, Edgar. Writing About Literature. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006.