James Joyce’s Araby Essay

James Joyces Araby is a story short in length, precisely enormous in impact. The unnamed narrator in the story is on the verge of some great discovery, betwixt and between childhood and the world of adults. The playmates with which he interacts, the auntiey and uncle that hold dominion over him, and the crush he develops on the pretty sister of a friend are each(prenominal) described through his eyes. man he describes the action, he does so in a wisdom that seems beyond his years, universe idealist and innocent and at the same time knowledgeable and jaded.though the voyage the protagonist makes is real, simple, and common, the way the journey is portrayed makes it verge on the mythic and the main character garners many millic attributes in the tradition of Joseph Campbells monomyth. Ameri terminate writer Joseph Campbell was well known not only for his defining of the hero and the heros journey, but also his grip and admiration for the defecate of James Joyce. In the work of Joyce, he saw many of the critical elements that comprised the heros journey or the monomyth, which added impact to an otherwise simple coming-of-age story. instead of being just a simple trip to the bazaar, the protagonist of Joyces Araby is forced to have many of the trials and events that befall all heroes. Campbell championed define what makes a hero in his 1949 book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, by stating A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of transcendental wonder fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man (30).In other words, Joyces protagonist in Araby has enacted multiple parts of the mythic initiation of the hero-redeemer, who, according to Campbell, undergoes separation, initiation, and returns with a boon for his people. tally to Martha Fodaski Black, In Araby the boy separates himself from the other Dubliner s, under release the trials and tests of the often hostile environment of the Dublin streets at night the main character has his moment of ironic enlightenment at the bazaaralthough the boy does not return to his people, the story is itself the boon that Joyce brought to the Irish (129).Even despite not fitting Campbells definition of the heros journey to the letter, there remain many aspects of it that are too glaring to ignore. The narrator in Araby personifies youthful idealism, fantasy, and confusion, which at first seems to negate the status as a hero embarking on a heros journey. However, when viewed through the eyes of Campbell, the trip to the bazaar for the three-year-old man, as well as the whelm desire that precedes it, are parts of the heros journey. The call to adventure is put forth by Mangans sister, who originally places the idea into the head of the young man about the bazaar.While she cannot go to the bazaar, he promises that he will go and return with something from the bazaar, which is very similar to the concept of the boon for the people. With his intense feelings, juvenile and confusing as they may be, the narrator is presented with a task that he feels obligated to complete, no matter the costs. This becomes his all-consuming passion, and every other aspect of his life in the story takes on a whole new meaning, becoming a mythological quest for something magical and transcendent.Even in his everyday tasks the narrator creates something fantastic, and do his way through the crowded streets carrying groceries he sees a different romantic reality I imagined that I bore my chalice safely through a throng of foes (Joyce 31). The way he romanticizes his friend Mangans sister goes far beyond the realm of reality, though he has little idea why he feels like he does. When she finally becomes reality and speaks to him, he is overwhelmed by it. Yet, he confronts adult reality with full force, following the urges brought on by his burgeoning se xual awareness.By, going on the quest to Araby, his idealism and fantasy are replaced with the cold realization of adulthood and the reality of the world around him. All of the other characters in Araby solely support the narrators rising consciousness and often fit the Campbells definition of helpers, and sometimes as tests and enemies to be overcome. The narrators aunt and uncle act as surrogates for authority figures, and their contradictions, but he still appeals to them after he receives his original call to adventure.Their authority comes to bear on the narrator when he waits for his uncle to get home to go to the bazaar with him, only to be let down when he fails to show up on time. The waiting could be a test for the narrator, and he manages to pass despite the anxiety and trepidation it caused. The pious and fair aunt is complimented with the partially irresponsible but benevolent uncle, and though their help is limited and largely debatable, their gentle support finally al lows the narrator to make it to the bazaar.However, unlike the elfin helpers in many myths, the helpers in Araby are very human, and it is together with the fault of the narrators uncle and aunt that he got to the bazaar so late though they are also the reason he was able to go, show the control that authority has over all and their important position in his life. Once the boy is allowed to go on his journey alone, more than elements of the heros journey come into play. The train ride that the boy embarks upon can be seen as Campbells crossing of the threshold to adventure.The ride itself is something that the boy must endure in order to get to the world he wishes to find, yet another test in a series of tests. However, once at the bazaar, the boys heroic journey takes a disheartening turn, as he hears that lots of his youthful excitement and anticipation for the journey were misinformed. He finds more tests and trials in the circumscribed environment of the bazaar, contending with ignorant clerks that do not merit his respect or business, though this is nothing more than a statement of childish innocence being replaced with the harsh reality of adulthood.In the end, the most important part of the narrators hero journey is not actually making it to the bazaar, nor retrieving the item he promised to Mangans sister, but it is the actual knowledge he gained because of the journey. Despite the help of some characters and the opposition of others, the narrator was able to grow in his knowledge and appreciation of the adult world. In initiating the boys heros journey, Mangans sister is the most important character in the story, not so much for who she is but what she is.She is the symbol of the narrators idealized view of life. She is everything romantic to him, while she most likely has no idea that he feels this way. Other than the narrator, all of the characters view the world as it is, realizing the obligations of life are more important than idealized fan tasies Mangans sister cannot go to Araby because of her convents retreat, the uncle tends to his own affairs out front the narrators, and the aunt only wants to see him safe and happy.When the bazaar turns out horribly for the narrator, he realizes that his romantic view of the world was not only wrong, but may have even been vain because of he failed to see the world like everyone else did. He realizes that the reality of his life and the people in it were far more simple than he imagined, a sentiment that clearly marks his transformation from child to man From the vantage point of maturity the narrator can realize that the aunt and uncle perhaps once possessed an awareness of the romantic, and awareness that has since been clouded by the drabness of North Richmond Street (Cockelreas & Logan).The ultimate irony of the boy is that to finally achieve adulthood, he was robbed of his joy and his imagination and received only painful revelation in return. Josephs Campbells heroic journ ey can be seen in many works of literature, from the common myths of ancient times to the modernist writing of James Joyce. Whether it is the complex story of a human fighting supernatural elements or the simple story of a boy going to a bazaar, any character can be construed as a hero and the journey heroic.Works Cited Black, Martha Fodaski Shaw and Joyce The Last Word in Stolentelling. Gainesville University of Florida Press, 1995. Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton Princeton University Press, 1949. Cockelreas, J & Logan, D. The Ironic Narrator in James Joyces Araby. Writing Essays approximately Literature. A Literary Rhetoric. New York Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970. Joyce, James. Araby. Dubliners. New York Penguin Books, 1967.