Dubliners

James Joyce’s novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, written in 1916 follows the life of Stephen Dedalus, a young man trying to find his identity through art. Each chapter of the novel represents Stephen in different phases of his life, from boyhood to a young adult. In his resolve to find himself, he flounders by placing his identity in one Irish institution after another--education, religion, carnal pleasures. This presented the audience with several versions of Stephen—first as a…

Eveline demonstrates the outcome of a child having lost many loved ones through death or through them leaving her. This causes her to fear change. In the short story "Eveline" James Joyce reveals that the old field symbolizes Eveline 's premature jump into adulthood, the dusty, monotonous house represents her life in the moment and Frank symbolizes a coming change in Eveline 's life, showing Eveline 's deep-rooted fear of change and unwillingness to accept it. The field represents Eveline and…

Through the Eyes of the Innocent Written in 1905, and first published in 1914, James Joyce’s “Araby” is the tragic story of a young, nameless boy’s first infatuation with an older neighborhood girl. He lives in a dreary world dominated by the Catholic Church. Without understanding, the boy’s great adoration for the girl quickly becomes an obsession. As the narrative progresses, the boy thoughtlessly swears to the girl he will bring her back a present from the town’s bazaar. Because of his…

The short story “Araby”, James Joyce displays the need for something more than Dublin, and how a world filled with repetition and gloom can create false hope for a breathtaking world. James Joyce illustrates such disillusionment through the eyes of a young Irish boy and his desire for exoticism in “Araby”. The opening paragraphs of the short story portray the demeanor the narrator has toward his life through the setting. The narrator feels as though Dublin is a dark shadow of a city, causing…

In the short story by James Joyce, he presents Gabriel as a husband reflecting on his wife and how much she has changed. Gabriel is a connection to the messenger angel who is probably coming down to give a message to the wife. The author portrays him as realizing the wife is no longer the same women she was when Michael Fury gave his life for her. Also, he reveals that Aunt Julie is soon to die. This idea is presented with the use of imagery, diction, and motif. First of all, the author utilizes…

The short story, “Araby” by James Joyce illustrates a young boys’ unfortunate experience with first love. Throughout “Araby”, Joyce uses many terms which invoke sexual and religious connotations in order to portray the setting and illustrate the boy’s sexual affection for the girl. In addition, religion is a large part of the boy’s way of life but as sexual needs come into play, the boy realizes that his religious form of affection is much different from the normal way of life. Thus, showing him…

Ibn Tufayl’s depiction of Hayy in the philosophical tale presents a contrast between the curiosity and malevolence of human behavior. Similar to the story of Adam and Eve’s sin, Ibn Tufayl begins this human society with the story of a king’s sister that married someone without permission and subsequently had a baby, as explicated by, “Now this king had a sister whom he forbade to marry until he himself should find a fitting match […] But she had a kinsman named Aware, and he married her…

Araby 1a. While reading the story "Araby," the theme of innocence is one that I picked up early on. From what I understand, the girl in the story seems to be the very first girl, or at least one of the first, that he is interested in. Since he is not very experienced with these emotions, his actions reflect that. For example, he states that he would wait every morning watching her door, and when she came out he would quickly follow her. However, if the paths they were both taking ever…

In the Dead by, James Joyce, the main character, Gabriel reveals how life changes over time, but it is all a matter of perspective. The way he explained this to us was by using techniques and devices such as time, imagery, and symbolism. First of all, Gabriel utilizes techniques such as symbolism when he uses phrases such as, “as he got curious eyes,” to demonstrate that his eyes are wandering around the room seeing with great detail what he is so upset about. Gabriel also mentions “her…

The short story, “The Dead,” is written by James Joyce. In this story, the protagonist is a married man, Gabriel Conroy. He is an intelligent, influential, and introverted character. His wife is a gracious and kind woman who seems to aim to please her husband. On the outside, they appear to be a perfect, loving couple; however, the reader quickly discovers that is not the case. At the beginning, Gabriel is easily exasperated by his wife but, by the end, his feelings toward her are altered.…