Conflicts in James Joyce’s “Araby” and “Eveline”

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Main body
Conclusion
References

Introduction

One of the literary works read this semester is written by James Joyce and is entitled “Araby”. The story is being told in the first person by the narrator, whose name is undisclosed. The narrator of the story is a boy who falls in love with his neighbor Mangan’s sister. His experience of love for this girl transfers him from calm years of childhood to the disappointing solitude of adulthood. The boy wants to become an adult to such an extent that he neglects his schoolwork, as to him it is the “child’s play”, and shows his amorous emotions in romantic behavior directed at Mangan’s sister.

Mangan’s sister in her turn represents the narrator’s love interest. She is simultaneously symbolizing the commonness of Dublin where the story takes place, as well as the extravagance of future love and allure of new places.

Main body

The protagonist of this story has a conflict, however not with an antagonist. His emotion of love confronts such negative aspects, as the dullness of everyday life, schoolwork, Dublin trains, and the lateness of his uncle. Thoughts about the love object consume all his days, however, when he attempts to speak to her, he feels awkward. Furthermore, when the girl tells him about the Araby bazaar, he decides to buy something for her there and competes with the negative aspects of everyday life mentioned above, which eventually ruin his plans, contradicting his passions. When the narrator arrives at the bazaar it is already late and all the encounters are English accents and flowered teacups. At this moment all his anticipations become foundered, including Magan’s sister, as the boy realizes that his so-called love is only a useless desire for change. The narrator stops pursuing his goal, and this latches him into the child’s world. His issue implies the fact of adverse Dublin life intervening with his desire to finally enter adulthood.

In conclusion, it could be said that the conflict between the protagonist and the negative aspects of Dublin’s everyday life lead the character towards awakening, however an unfavorable one. The protagonist basically abandons his high feelings for Magan’s sister instead of acknowledging that there is no need for presents in order to express his emotions to someone he adores so much.

Another literary work written by the same author is entitled “Eveline”. Eveline is the protagonist of this story who has to make the most important choice of her life. She has to choose between two extremes – unfortunate home-keeping or escaping to Buenos Aires with her lover Frank. Both choices are marginal for Eveline, and there are no possibilities of any moderate alternatives. The issue of this girl is rather a lack of choice than the inability to make a decision. In this story Eveline – the protagonist has an internal conflict with an antagonist that is represented by factors that keep her from starting a better life. These factors consist of her mother, who is dead, of her father who is brutal towards her, and of her brother who lives apart from the family.

Conclusion

When Eveline is attempting to confront her emotions in order to make her life more content, she suddenly remembers the family picnic before her mother’s death, and how she promised her mother to keep the family inseparable. She also forgets all about her father’s brutality and thinks about his caring kindness towards her when she was sick. These memories blind the poor girl, and she decides that everything should remain the same, that she must stick with things that are familiar to her. Although Eveline chooses an unhappy life, this life is still less scary for her, than the profound feelings she has for Frank.

Eveline’s conflict has a negative outcome as well. It shows the delusions of grasping on to the past when having to make crucial decisions for the future. The inability of abandoning family relations prevents the heroine from being rescued from the horrors of her disadvantageous domestic situation.

References

Joyce, J. (1954). Dubliners. New York: Modern Library.

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Conflicts in James Joyce’s “Araby” and “Eveline”

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