“Araby” is based on the theme of frustration. The nameless narrator has fallen for Mangan’s sister. He is driven by his desire to win her heart; so without any thought, he offers to buy her something from the bazaar even when she does not ask for it. The anticipation of what might come after he gives her a romantic gift fills him with great joy and fantasies.
The narrator waits for his uncle to come home to give him some money so he can come to the bazaar to buy the gift. During the late night, he happily travels to the bazaar only to discover its shops are closing. However, his tardiness does not matter because he realizes he only has a little bit of money. His price range is way too low to afford anything on sale. In reality, he is poor and can’t afford such a luxury; his financial situation is tight, so there are limitations on what he can and cannot do. He is paralyzed at the moment when he notices that all the items in the bazaar are so expensive. Everything is beyond his affordability; he is going to be ashamed because he can’t buy what he has promised Mangan’s sister. He says to himself, “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger” (Joyce 25). He finally realizes his harsh reality. He is stuck in an economic situation, and there is no escape from it.
The nameless narrator’s paralysis is similar to the moment when Lurie looks out the window watching the robbers shoot the dogs one by one in Disgrace. Lurie can’t do anything to prevent that from happening because he himself is also a victim of violence. He has been burned and locked up in the bathroom. His movement has been limited; he is scared. The dogs' killing happens in his presence, it horrifies him. However, he is powerless to intervene and too weak to save those dogs from brutality and death.
The nameless narrator and David Lurie both experience paralysis and epiphany. The narrator assumes that he can carry out his desire to purchase a gift as a symbol of love, but in the end it costs too much for him. As for David Lurie, a once almighty man, is attacked and trapped in a confined place where he is powerless to break free.
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I like how you take the paralysis in Joyce's story and compare it to Disgrace. It is a very similar situation. You also do a good job at describing the iituation in which the narrarator in Araby falls into a paralysis.
ReplyDeleteI liked your comparison of the boy in “Araby” with David Lurie. You say the boy is too poor to buy a gift for the girl he likes, and that Lurie is weak to stop the attack. In both situations, you point out that the characters were paralyzed, as they were unable to act in the ways they wanted. I think Lurie was more paralyzed than the boy in the given situations because the boy did have money, but not enough to buy something that he found satisfactory, whereas Lurie was locked in a bathroom, literally unable to do anything. I think these two examples are a good demonstration of the meaning of the word paralysis in Joyce’s context.
ReplyDeleteI like your examination of the boy in "Araby" epiphany and I think you are right he does realize that he is controlled by his desires. I also like that you compared his paralysis with Disgrace when David just stands there and watch the shoot the dogs because he did not know what to do and I agree that this scene reveals David at a state of paralysis.
ReplyDeleteI like that you give an overall summary and that you explain what the epiphany and paralysis is in "Araby". I agree that the boy and David had a similar paralysis because both could not do what they wanted, the boy could not because he didn't have enough money and David because he was locked in the bathroo. Good blog.
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