2. “Araby”---Puppy Love in Childhood
2.1 The Character of the Little Boy
“Araby” mainly tells about a story that a boy secretly falls in love with a girl of his neighbor, Mangan’s sister. In a conversation with the girl, the boy knows about the bazaar, Araby. He makes preparation of going to Araby to pick a gift for the girl. After delay and procrastination and in all its forms, he finally arrives at Araby but his dream falls apart because of what he sees. It’s also a story about the disillusion of dream and boy’s epiphany.
The hero in “Araby” is a boy who is in his childhood, which has a special meaning for the story. At this life stage, he has little experience and is simple minded so he is undisturbed by secular world and material desires, so he does not have so many complicated thoughts. There is no doubt that children of this age are naive, innocent, ignorant, so is the boy. He is just at puberty and thirsts for romantic love. “At the end of the 19th century, the Irish society was not independent. Ireland, which was under the dual oppression and repression of Britain and the Catholic church, was an irredeemable country, and Dublin was the center of paralysis” (Hou Enrui, 2015: 193). At the beginning of the story, there are some descriptions about “North Richmond Street, being blind”, “a quiet street”, “an uninhabited house”, “brown imperturbable faces” (Joyce, 1990: 19) and so on. The descriptions reflect the boy’s living environment as well as setting the apathetic and gloomy tone for the whole story. The “blind street” is a symbol of the dark and spiritless society condition. The surroundings the boy lives in are repressive, depressing and lifeless, which suggests that the boy’s dream will come to an untimely end. It also foreshadows the difficulty and disillusion of the boy’s unrequited love.
In addition to the terrible living surroundings, his family life is not happy or free as other normal children. Instead of living with his parents, he lives with his uncle and aunt. It is conceivable that the dependant situation will have much effect on the character of the child. The boy tells his uncle he is going to Araby but his uncle answers him casually and even forgets later. “He asked me where I was going and, when I told him a second time” (Joyce, 1990: 23). It suggests that the boy is neglected by them all the time so he cannot get enough care and love. However, the existence of Mangan’s sister gives him hope to live and pursue love. “The girl makes him feel happy and warm so she becomes a wonderful fantasy of the lonely hero” (Hou Enrui, 2015: 193). He needs wonderful love to resist the anxiety and intricacy of adult world brings him, which is also the demonstration of the innocent nature of the boy. He regards her as a dream lover and always has romantic fantasy about her.
Lacking enough love and encouragement, he becomes timid, self-abased and introverted. In the face of the girl he likes, he dares not to approach and only dares to keep peeping at her. “The blind was pulled down to within an inch of the sash so that I could not be seen” and “I kept her brown figure always in my eye” (Joyce, 1990: 20) proves it. Other wonderful descriptions can verify this point. “When she came out on the doorstep my heart leaped”, “her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood” and “this happened morning after morning”(Joyce, 1990: 20). As a matter of fact, the boy is eager to have a conversation with the girl, but he is so introverted and shy that he does not know how to face the girl he loves secretly. Once they have the close conversation face to face, he feels flurried and perplexed. “When she addressed the first words to me, I was so confused” (Joyce, 1990: 21). After he hears about Araby, “a splendid bazaar” (Joyce, 1990: 21) where the girl wants to go, he begins to daydream. Not only does he imagine the mysterious place but also he often imagines the girl’s beautiful and gentle appearance in his mind. Therefore, the boy’s attitude towards life has undergone a subtle change because of his intensive love to the girl. 詹姆斯·乔伊斯笔下《都柏林人》中的爱情观(3):http://www.chuibin.com/yingyu/lunwen_206560.html