James Joyces Araby - Lack of Insight in Araby :: Joyce Dubliners Araby Essays

Araby Lack of Insight Readers of Araby often focus on the final scene as the key to the story. They assume the boy experiences nearly profound insight about himself when he gazes up into the darkness. I believe, however, that the boy sees nothing and learns nothing--either about himself or others. Hes not self- reflective hes merely self-absorbed. The evidence musical accompaniment this interpretation is the imagery of blindness and the ironic point of view of the narrator. There can seem to be a profound insight at the ending of the story only if we empathize with the boy and adopt his point of view. In other words, we must assume that the young boy is narrating his own story. But if the original narrator is the grown man looking back at his early adolescence, then it becomes possible to read the narrative as ironic and to see the boy as confused and blind. The story opens and closes with images of blindness. The street is blind with an uninhabited house at the blind end. As he spies on Mangans sister, from his own house, the boy intentionally limits what he is able to see by lowering the blind until it is only an inch from the window sash. At the bazaar in the closing scene, the light was out, and the upper function of the hall was completely dark. The boy is left gazing up into the darkness, seeing nothing but an inner torment that burns his eyes. This pattern of imagery includes images of reading, and reading stands for the boys inability to understand what is before his eyes. When he tries to read at night, for example, the girls image comes between him and the page, in effect blinding him. In fact, he seems blind to everything pretermit this image of the brown-clad figure cast by his imagination. The girls brown-clad figure is also associated with the houses on blind North Richmond Street, with their brown imperturbable faces. The houses stare back at the boy, unaffected by his presence and gaze. The most important face he tries and fails to rea d belongs to Mangans sister. His description of her and interpretation of the few words she says to him can be seen as further evidence of his blindness. He sees only what he wants to see, the image he has in his minds eye.