How Does Araby Lose Innocence

A child’s innocence is very important as it essentially channels the thoughts and imagination that a child should possess. Over time as children face new problems provided by the environment they are surrounded by, they start to lose that supreme innocence. By experiencing the catastrophic events in “Araby” and “The Garden Party” by James Joyce and Katherine Manisfield respectively, both Laura and the narrator in “Araby” encounter events to lose their innocence and gain valuable life lessons by enduring the harshness of reality.

The narrator of Araby is a young boy and his infatuation with Mangan’s sister takes him on a romantic pursuit during which he discovers the bitterness of unrequited love by drawing parallels between the bleak bazaar and the semblance of love in his life. The …show more content…
The child is more interested in his exaggerated imaginations of her than her herself. This is evident as the boy barely talks to her yet he idolizes her and her views. He says, “The light from the lamp opposite our door caught the white curve of her neck, lit up her hair that rested there and, falling, lit up the hand upon the railing.” (Joyce). The description of how the light shines on her presents his perspective of how she is almost an angelic and holy figure. He feels like his only way to be relieved from the dark environment of Dublin with the “brown imperturbable faces” (Joyce) of houses and the un-holy areas where even a priest had died was to pursue this girl. To him she was the holy escape and he notes, “my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires” (Joyce). The usage of the harp is related to angels and other holy uses, resembling his opinion regarding this girl. However, his visit to the bazaar changes everything. He notices how rude people are to him and how people became protective as they thought he was going to steal

Show More

Related Documents: How Does Araby Lose Innocence

Archetypes In Araby