The Odd Allure of Love Love can be a mystery. It takes hold of us just as fast as it releases us. Love can, on occasion, be justified by logic, but often, it is seemingly random, taking hold of our mind and jerking it about for reasons obscure to all but love itself, until love grows bored and lets us go at less than a moments notice. In the short story “Araby,” by James Joyce, a boy falls head over heels for a girl. He hardly knows her, yet still, he can’t shake off the obsession. This obsession takes hold of his life until he finds himself at a bazaar, searching out a gift for the girl, when his interest, seemingly without reason, quickly fades. Throughout the story, there remain a few questions that never go answered from how the boy became
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Joyce tells us that “[he] did not know whether [he] would ever speak to her or not, and if [he] spoke to her, how [he] could tell her of [his] confused adoration” (Joyce 108). The boy clearly wishes throughout the story that he could pluck up the courage to address the girl with confidence and tell her what he feels. Sadly, however he’s confronted with a very personal barrier, thrown in front of him as yet another consequence of the irrational love he is constantly at struggle with. As a result, he is left utterly dazed when the girl finally speaks to him, wondering if he’s going to Araby, a bazaar whose name had been completely foreign to him until she inquired to him about it. Seeing this as an opportunity he makes a promise to himself that he’ll retrieve anything he can lay his hands on at the bazaar so that he’ll final have an excuse to talk to her. (Joyce 109) The boy views the conception of this plan alone as a victory in his battle for her heart because he had at long last found a way to confront the irrational. Why, though, did he experience a barrier when talking to her in the first place, why did he need an excuse? To this, the answer must simply be a lack of confidence possessed. From what we can tell, he was a sociable lad, with many friends, and even a connection to the girl from his good friend Mangan. In summary, the boy suffered a fear to talk to the girl not from any good reason, but because his new feelings for her had wedged their way into his logic and left his view of his capabilities highly
Joyce tells us that “[he] did not know whether [he] would ever speak to her or not, and if [he] spoke to her, how [he] could tell her of [his] confused adoration” (Joyce 108). The boy clearly wishes throughout the story that he could pluck up the courage to address the girl with confidence and tell her what he feels. Sadly, however he’s confronted with a very personal barrier, thrown in front of him as yet another consequence of the irrational love he is constantly at struggle with. As a result, he is left utterly dazed when the girl finally speaks to him, wondering if he’s going to Araby, a bazaar whose name had been completely foreign to him until she inquired to him about it. Seeing this as an opportunity he makes a promise to himself that he’ll retrieve anything he can lay his hands on at the bazaar so that he’ll final have an excuse to talk to her. (Joyce 109) The boy views the conception of this plan alone as a victory in his battle for her heart because he had at long last found a way to confront the irrational. Why, though, did he experience a barrier when talking to her in the first place, why did he need an excuse? To this, the answer must simply be a lack of confidence possessed. From what we can tell, he was a sociable lad, with many friends, and even a connection to the girl from his good friend Mangan. In summary, the boy suffered a fear to talk to the girl not from any good reason, but because his new feelings for her had wedged their way into his logic and left his view of his capabilities highly