Araby by James Joyce - Short Story Summary, Analysis, Review from Dubliners

I think we all want the ending explained. We explore some of the usages of Light and Dark as well as Religious References in this piece. This is just an interpretation and discussion we offer. We know there are plenty of other opportunities to interpret. We've seen great ones in regards to the modernity and Celtic revival. Let us know your favorite in the comments below.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
0:00 Introduction
0:31 Background and Publication Info
3:51 Plot Summary
6:21 Analysis
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[@TheCodeXCantina]

Dubliners Playlist: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f3mzdoGvf7iiqpI Support Us: www.patreon.com/thecodexcantina BOOKMARKS: Background and Publication Info: @0:31 Plot: @3:51 Analysis: @6:21

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Thanks for watching! Let us know your favorite interpretation in the comments.

[@danieDPortgas7187]

Something I also noticed about the "central apple tree" is that it could be an allusion to the Garden of Eden because the tree of knowledge of good and evil was at the center of the garden. I feel like it is another important signal telling the readers more about the narrator's loss of innocence.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Yep, agreed! 👍

[@lesterstone8595]

I concur.

[@IrishArtHistory]

Wonderful insights and interpretations of Dubliners, thank you both.

[@BookishTexan]

Ah! One of my favorite stories of all time. Like you guys I identified so much with the main character and his longing for Mangan's sister. I have a tendency to read it as more simple and straight forward, but loved hearing your analysis.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Bookish No wrong way to enjoy it. I probably take a first pass for fun at a text and then take a round two to understand more details on a personal level.

[@BookishTexan]

@@TheCodeXCantina Along those lines. I took the single apple tree in the garden to be a Biblical reference to the Garden of Eden with the narrator as Adam and Mangan's sister as Eve tempting him out of his boyhood. He winds up frustrated at the end when he realizes that he has been tempted out of that boyhood innocence only to find himself impotent to complete the transaction because he become self conscious when confronted by the more assured flirtation between the woman who works the stall at Araby and her other male customers. He thought he was a smooth operator with the ladies only to be confronted with the reality of how little he actually knew and how awkward he actually was. Which is a not uncommon experience for young men and their first loves. Also, I thought your idea that Mangan's sister was going into a monastery was interesting. I have always thought that she attended a monastery school-- common for catholic girls of her social class I believe whether they were going to become nuns or not -- that was simply going on a retreat for the week in which Araby would be open. The idea that she was going to become a nun never occurred to me. Great discussion video.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Bookish Sure, I can absolutely see that. I just replied to Deenie to about how I forgot to go into the boy being “blind” to her situation. I can definitely see this interpretation of yours and bring in “blind faith” into the discussion there. I always thought how Joyce pulled away from religion had a nice spin on his usage of religious symbols and made me think about what his commentary would be about his own pull away from religion as opposed to being in those confines. I can definitely see your angle too though as you know my love of discussing religions and how his views are shaped by the very thing he grew up with! Always a pleasure to hear your thoughts 😎

[@BookishTexan]

@@TheCodeXCantina This is my favorite thing about booktube and what makes your channel such a pleasure to follow.

[@avizjordan7834]

11:04 I didn't pick up on that.. neither did my teacher🤦 y'all are geniuses

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Thanks, and there's lots of ways to take interpretations. Your teacher may be taking it the nationalistic or auto-fic route and view this as her boarding school as the secular National System of Education which James Joyce constantly lit up. I'd like to do another video on Araby some time with other interpretations from Dubliners stories as there was a lot of contention with that.

[@StriketheSunMD]

This is a great format and discusses a great story!

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Thanks for the feedback. Cheers.

[@ItsPsy_]

Thanks for this, it really helped me understand the story even more! Keep it up!

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Glad to hear it!

[@vicjames3256]

Revisiting this 20 years later, and reminded of the light vs dark motif, I'm realizing how much Damien by Hesse uses it (maybe hammers it to the ground). I wonder if the story influenced the novel. You've got Dubliners coming out in 1914 and Damien being released in 1919. Or perhaps every artist was contemplating their place amid a deeply religious society at that time... The world may never know.

[@patrickpilkington6241]

Well done gentlemen. I also want to mention that Joyce in “The Dubliners” all throughout, uses color and light with dual or even multiple usages. Mainly, he often uses white and light to symbolize purity and epiphany as you aptly summarized but, as we see with examples like the snowfall in “The Dead” as well as lilies/Lily in other stories, and a relative myriad of subtle points, in these instances, white, light, snow, flowers, are representative of death and peaceful rest in death. Joyce does an immensely bold thing with his writing and in his time whereby he’s practically screaming at polite Irish society, that for all its tremendous energy and gathered wisdom via her suffering, Eire always finds a way to not just live but, to mire longingly in the ever running wake that lionizes her suffering, capitulation, and death. “Ivy Day in the Committee Room” does well in this scrutiny and harsh critique of Irish Nationalism and Irish Sovereignty ... ultimately Her identity. Parnell was a Protestant but, an outspoken nationalist who was murdered for his patriotism. Sadly, because no other Protestant nationalist of his stature could speak and advocate for all of a free and independent Ireland or the Home Rule which was the eventual stepping stone toward the independent republic ceded the six counties of the northeast/Ulster to be kept under the Crown and where a minority unionist aka loyalist faction keeps a Catholic minority in an Apartheid-esque subdued and oppressed with a tacit endorsement from Parliament, the PM and the Queen. A paralyzed people preserved in Joyce’s time. When you peer into the stories of the average unemployed Catholic in Belfast and you hear what their lives entail, you can easily think you’re speaking with a Joyce created character. It’s quite interesting. Even in the Republic to the south and west, despite gaining an identity and evolving as they surely have, progress has been grindingly slow since Michael Collins led his countrymen to the aforementioned home rule which bridges the nation into the establishment of their own separate Irish national identity and to the point of wallowing and the hinderance of growth forsaken by the comforts of nostalgia, Ireland would live in crippling poverty and ever more staunch in her adherence to the Roman Catholic Faith which only served to entrench parties on both sides where her six separate counties under British occupation or sovereignty depending on where your convictions fall, maintain a flimsy peace by way of partition walls and curfews amongst religious and ethnic discrimination and brutality. A liberating figure seemed to be what Joyce always was seeking. Even within his pen name and the character name in another of Joyce’s classic works, Stephen Dedalus pays homage to the Greek literature character and father to Iccarus the tragic figure. Dedalus was imprisoned and escaped by fashioning a set of wings that were made with wax. He cautioned his younger and hubristic son Iccarus not to fly to close to the sun for the wax would surely melt and he would plummet into the sea below. Joyce was a libertarian but, not one who was foolish about the pursuits and ultimate freedoms of one were to obtain a real and true freedom. Ultimately, freedom itself forces disciplines to be applied lest they be neglected and, base emotions like euphoria set the flimsy order of that potential philosophy about into an implosion and, the victims who witness it to demand rigid authoritarianism to protect and preserve a society as they see fit and so on and so on. I went off on a bit of a rant here but, you’ve inspired me as has Joyce. My punctuation also slid heavily in the back half of this post but, these things happen whence one gets on a roll. I just really enjoy great writing and I absolutely love unpacking it. Joyce is amongst the absolute best authors for those of us who like to go and dig. Joyce Archeology ought to be a real thing in literary academia. I love the channel. Brilliant work and I’m looking forward to diving into many of the titles and topics I’m seeing in your archives here.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Thanks! Gushing is always welcome over Joyce here. I agree. Going through "Ivy Day..." would be hard without bringing in some of the Parnell/Home Rule issues of the day and other auto-fic elements. It sounds like you must be familiar with Richard Ellmann's seminal biography of Joyce? I found it to be a wonderful read and resource when working through some of his writings. Happy to meet a fellow Joyce fan.

[@kjerstenlynum1686]

You guys are crazy entertaining and engaging

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Thank you so much!

[@sameenashameer5878]

Loved the discussion!❤

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Thanks

[@pepupyourstep]

I think at the time, "convent" may have been referring to the convent school girls would go to. Remember that boys and girls would have been separated under the Catholic education system. Mengan's sister is also wearing the brown uniform that you would associate with convent schools.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Yep.

[@chriss3202]

Honestly great analysis overall, but just one thing: When the girl talks about her convent, she's more than likely referring to her convent school, which in Ireland were/are all-girls secondary schools owned by a convent where they're taught by nuns. They are still pretty much the standard for girls in most parts of the country because most schools were (and in large part continue to be) owned and/or operated by religious orders. I don't think it really signifies any particular religious devotion on her part that makes her an inaccessible object of desire, since in all likelihood this kind of retreat was mandatory.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Thanks

[@superintelligentapefromthe121]

Historical context is priceless.

[@jamesstout6280]

​@@superintelligentapefromthe121 Ah you must be new to literature. You are correct that it's a mistake in historical contextual analysis, but it's actually wrong to pretend you have to use historical context. There's this thing called "the death of the author" and formalism. You'll learn it's just a different way at looking at literature.

[@FreyaVal]

The girl already studied at a convent. But she couldn’t go to Araby because she had to go to a retreat! I hope you know what we do at retreat and why go to retreat

[@emilycardona3544]

thank you for helping me study for a quiz i have on this story tomorrow!!!

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Good luck!!

[@abdulraisthamrin2574]

I am a fans of Araby, as an English Teachers from my perspective the ending explained that No matter how hard he tried to get the girl, at the end of the day HE cant be with her. Whether He can give what the girl wants from the Bazzar or not there's no way he can be with her because SHE is a convent, nun or sister. In Catholic church Those who decided to be a Sister can't marry with anybody. That's how I interpret the story. I might be wrong but that's make a story more interesting

[@PintsAndPaperbacks]

I’ve avoided Dubliners because I’ve heard it’s hella difficult to read. But this story sounded very interesting. You guys have inspired me to do a video on one of my favorite short stories now Where are you Going, Where have you Been? Have either of you read it? I think it’s pretty common to read in school. Or at least it was when I was in high school lol

[@TheCodeXCantina]

I haven't read that particular story by her, but have heard of it. For sure, Dubliners is VERY approachable. It's available for free in kindle/audiobook right now for prime members and is in the public domain so it's pretty accessible right now.

[@cavandavidson1185]

Dubliners is straight forward and lovely. Ulysses and finnegans wake are basically nonsense.

[@mrcross3178]

I didn't enjoy the story at all, but your video was great and gave me a big doze of comprehension.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Very kind of you!

[@Idazle]

I wonder what Joyce would think of our wild speculations and symbolic interpretations of his stories? 🙂

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Annoyed. Slightly disappointed. A slice of entertainment 😂

[@jowgiezamora3739]

19:12 the boy was just simping, overall I enjoyed the story🙌

[@TheCodeXCantina]

:D

[@martinb6065]

i just read the short story and omg. thank you so much.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Hope you enjoyed it!

[@disiminibeddegama8775]

Glad to watch this master piece...it was very beneficial for my studies @university...thank you for this great work & looking forward for more great works...🔥🤟❤

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Our pleasure. Best of luck!

[@daryared2808]

Just got this video recommended by my friend!! Love it°°

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@CB-vg1wq]

Really enjoyed your analysis. I thought the apple tree in the center of the garden and scraggy bushes represent the Garden of Eden. I have a couple of interpretations, the 'Garden of Eden ' i.e. the relationship with the young woman is not available to him. A darker interpretation has to do with the criticism Joyce had for the Catholic Church. The Garden of Eden - the relationship- is destroyed by the Catholic Church taking the woman away with her vocation to the Church. Do other people see the apple tree and scraggy bushes as symbolism for the Garden of Eden?

[@TheCodeXCantina]

You’re not alone at all.

[@agustindelgado1771]

great video guys, keep it like this!

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Agustín Delgado thanks

[@parvintelli5178]

Thanks, it was great. Enjoyed it.❤️

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@StephenBrock-iw5bf]

I teach AP Lit and my students this week have to compare "The Dead" to another short story in Dubliners. I've been enjoying the analysis on your site as I connect back to these texts I read for the first time 30 years ago. Here in "Araby,"I was musing about the death of the priest in paragraph two, specifically about a connection to "Sisters." Your thoughts?

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Great assignment.

[@milaahmad7210]

Discuss the dark and light images in James Joyce's Araby, and then show their importance to the theme of innocence and experience.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Sounds like a book report question

[@cavandavidson1185]

Probably good to start with dubliners, many of which are beautiful. I'd stop there if i were you, finnegans wake is complete gibberish.

[@patrickobiri2106]

Can someone help with this question if possible, (Provide two significant similarities and two significant differences between the protagonist of “Crush” and the protagonist of “Araby.” ) I will appreciate.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Don't forget to list author names :)

[@kjerstenlynum1686]

LOVE THIS oh my goodness

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Yay! Thank you!

[@Nabilo8501]

amazing review

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Glad you think so!

[@chrisheatleymulhall3950]

The reference to retreat is not about entering the nunnery, it's a contemporary social requirement for young women, it restricted their social interactions

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Thanks, this was already commented a few times and I'm sure is great info when you don't take a formalist approach.

[@helenhuang6858]

Thanks!

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Helen Huang my pleasure

[@deanie3824]

Reading it was like being transported back to middle school. Such an awkward time! I hope Krypto saved some of those love letters so then he can do a dramatic reading of them. 🤣 When I got to the convent part, I was like, ohhh poor kid is too in over his head.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Nice job! I missed pointing out kid was "blind" to it like the way his street was described as "blind" and how he drew the "blinds" when looking out his window at her.

[@supershmueli]

Writing a paper on this right now

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Best of luck!

[@marysolperez7618]

who allowed you guys to pop off like that? I love this video smm!! and krypto is lowkey hella cute

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Thank you for the kind words. Lol, I would let him know but it would just go to his head. -Una

[@dave0729]

Pp

[@StephenGutknecht]

Dante never talked to Beatrice, and he went to the most extreme in love without relationship.

[@mehmediburahim1341]

NEWCLG Pullingo like here..😁👍🏼

[@TheCodeXCantina]

How hip

[@TheStephanieRichards]

Nice! Thanks for the video. One little thing, symbology is the study of symbols. You want to use the word symbolism instead. Will watch more 😊

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Thanks and yeah, we’ve corrected since. Video is a bit old. Cheers

[@Idazle]

Araby does better than Goethe's Werther? 😮😮😳😳

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Have you read part 2? Oof 😂

[@Idazle]

@@TheCodeXCantina Book 2 of Werther? I certainly have. Why?

[@TheCodeXCantina]

@@Idazle oh sorry, I’m getting my son ready for something at same time as responding. For some reason I thought I had read “Faust” 😂

[@Idazle]

@@TheCodeXCantina no problem! you know what, in spite of the veneration drawn by Faust, if I had to take just one Goethe's book to the desert island that one would be The Sorrows of Young Werther (and if I had to take a book on Faust that would be Marlowe's Faust and not Goethe's 🙂). Good night! 🛏🛏🌜🌜

[@spellboundtarot1264]

Please analyze The Ulysses as well .. 🤒😬

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Oooof, That's quite the heartburn. 100 year anniversary in 2022. Maybe?

[@spellboundtarot1264]

I know right .. 😹🙌🏻

[@alymillane8514]

i love u

[@coopercallender400]

it aint Christmas no mo

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Maybe in your heart.

[@markthompson6552]

In Ireland going to a convent doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going on to be a nun, for example my sister is going to a convent and isn’t even religious. Nearly every all-girl school is a convent.

[@donkeedic366]

this fella looks like aaron rodgers lol

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Lol, that's a new one

[@SidharthR]

I think there's a meta play at work here. The reader obsessing over the meaning and symbols in the story finally realizes (early morning, half sleeping) that he/she is not going to get to the truth of the story by doing that. The symbols are as distracting/misleading as the exotic Araby. Joyce has said about Ulysses that he has put in enough stuff for the critics to go on about for ever. It's possible he has started early on!

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Possible! Cheers.

[@lesterstone8595]

I think you're wrong about the convent. Just like the boy went to an all-boys Christian Brothers School run by male members of a religious order, the girl is going to an all-girls school run by nuns who belong to a convent.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Yep. There are a lot of cultures that work that way including Ireland. It’s a completely fair challenge to a historical context. We took a formalist approach.

[@lesterstone8595]

@@TheCodeXCantina 😜

[@flatrounds]

Respectfully, I would offer a different interpretation. The goal itself (“vanity”) was always wrong, not just the goalposts. Hence, the narrator’s “anguish and anger” at having been “driven and derided by” his own delusions of grandeur at story’s end.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

j g You’re welcome to offer any interpretation you’d like. As long as one can back up a view, it’s certainly fair game for discussion.

[@flatrounds]

The CodeX Cantina To me the story has always been about “vanity.” The girl and Araby are just metaphors...they are not the thing itself. I suppose a deeper level it’s about the narrator’s narcissistic worldview which is very well presented in metaphors which describe isolation, longing for ordinary human connection, and a preoccupation with unattainable purity and moral goodness. Being unable to find simple happiness and connection in everyday life, the narrator seeks out the shiny and superficial excitement of Araby with which to fill his inner void. In the end, he is disillusioned by the naïveté of his pursuit and is left feeling even more isolated and empty than where he started.

[@aparna4514]

@@flatrounds wowwww❤️your interpretation is thought provoking!

[@flatrounds]

Aparna S Nair thanks !

[@jaqmart]

An OK analysis but the attempt at Irish accent is truly pitiful and painful to hear - someone in Scotland might sound somewhat like that, maybe when getting out of bed after a heavy night, but absolutely no one born in Ireland would ever burr their words in that manner. Get real guys

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Truly terrible

[@BasedEnjoyer]

I've never understood her going to the "Convent" as going to become a nun My mother went to a convent , thats what they called girls schools when the girls where taught by nuns (I think) , like I went to a christian brother's school but never became a "brother" but , you may be right , I don't know . One of the best stories and fills me with dread when I think about my son , soon to become a teenager , we've all been there .

[@TheCodeXCantina]

It’s not historically accurate as you put to interpret it our way in this video. You’re correct it could be more of a school and this approach is a very formalistic approach

[@BasedEnjoyer]

@@TheCodeXCantina the convents had a reputation for being extremely strict as did the Christian brothers schools although I found the constant cat and mouse battles with the brothers in one I went to in Liverpool highly entertaining many didn’t and I think some are suing them for physical abuse . It all depends how you look on things . I’d prefer the whack round the earhole and the leather strap I got than some woke soyjack trying to be my best friend .

[@anridvalishvili5908]

I don't know why but I got different point. I think the epiphany urges kid to do something to accomplish his thing, not to give up on it

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Thanks for sharing