Disillusionment In Araby And A & P

The events that shape the change in the central character's consciousness in "Araby" is when the narrator decides to go out to the bazaar for the woman. When he reaches the bazaar,

In conclusion, one can see that despite of the title of the song and the repeated use of it, "fast car" is not the main aspect of the song, but rather the meanings and feelings that are associated with it.

But, the girls fails to take notice of his chivalric gesture, and leave the store. He too ends up with much disappointment. Both Joyce’s “Araby” and Updike’s “A&P” have succeeded to utilize adolescent protagonists whom have experienced cultural conflicts while on their quest for romance. Both the protagonists feel trapped in restrictive cultures where the older adults are strict and unsympathetic. This authoritative culture seems to have contributed to a society where members thrive in abject poverty.

Life has its series of challenges and obstacles (“conditions of defeat”) that can often feel unfair. Individuals go through many ups and downs in their lifetime. Although life is sometimes unfair, we learn to love and cherish every moment we have with one another. True fulfillment arises from the struggle itself, the journey of overcoming difficulties/hardships. Our identities and perspectives on the world are shaped by diverse life experiences.

The story Araby takes place in the winter, the end of North Richmond St. The main character in the narrator, a boy who is infatuated with his friend’s sister. He has created a routine that will allow him to see her and follow her to school everyday. Everything would be amazing if he had the courage to talk to her, but he never has. One day however, the girl takes interest in him, asking if he will attend Araby, in the bazaar. The boy responds he will. In fact, he will purchase something for her due to the circumstance that she will not be able to attend. As days passed the boy can’t wait till the day arrives and to attend the bazaar, which turns out a problem because the idea intervenes with his school work. Finally the day arrives, but his uncle is late, despite the fact that the boy reminded him to be early. The uncle is grumpy and perhaps drunk. He tells the child it is too late now to go out, but his wife convinces him to let the boy go. When he is at the bazaar, a young woman asks him if he would like to purchase something. He shakes his head and the lights go off hinting the narrator is time to go home.

Although “Araby” is a fairly short story, author James Joyce does a remarkable job of discussing some very deep issues within it. On the surface it appears to be a story of a boy's trip to the market to get a gift for the girl he has a crush on. Yet deeper down it is about a lonely boy who makes a pilgrimage to an eastern-styled bazaar in hopes that it will somehow alleviate his miserable life. James Joyce’s uses the boy in “Araby” to expose a story of isolation and lack of control. These themes of alienation and control are ultimately linked because it will be seen that the source of the boy's emotional distance is his lack of control over his life.

The song then transitions to a hard rock sound, with the drums and guitar unleashing powerful rhythms. This sound perfectly matches the character’s reaction to their judgers, which anger and defiance. This can be seen from the lyrics “So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye, So you think you can love me and leave me to die, Oh baby, can’t do this to me baby, Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here”. However, this doesn’t last long, for after a short powerful guitar riff, the song shifts to a down tempo ballad. This leads to the character feeling resignation and complacency with the lyrics “Nothing really matters, anyone can see, nothing really matters...to me”. Then the song fades out with the character saying “Any way the wind blows”, as if they are accepting whatever challenge they had before.

All these texts conveyed feelings of responsibility and anxiousness as these authors used literature to convey their message to the Americans, Arabs and the Arab Americans who were feared that they were the ones who were about to pay the tall of this tragedy.

On the simplest level, “Araby” is a story about a young boy’s first love and his quest for the ideal. He has a crush on his friend’s sister and his quest to fulfill a promise he made to her. The promise that is made is that he will bring her a present from Araby, a bazaar. He is granted permission from his uncle; however his uncle comes home late on the day of the bazaar making it hard for the boy to get to Araby before it close. When he finally arrives he discovers it is too late to buy anything. Thus, the quest ends in failure. On the deeper level, the failure results in an inner awareness and a first step into adult world. The protagonist faces up the harsh reality for which his precious experience has not prepared for him. The

James Joyce’s, Araby, is an emotional short story that centers around a nameless boy living in Dublin, with his aunt and uncle, who has a consuming crush on his friend’s sister. His love for her leads him to the Araby bazaar, and there he comes to a realization about his immature actions. This event is the basis for the entire story, but the ideas Joyce promotes with this story revolve around the boy’s reactions to his feelings about his crush. Joyce spends much of the story describing the boy’s thoughts on the area in which he lives and similarly how he feels about the life he has lived thus far. He builds up the boy’s disgust for the simple facets of his daily life and how he feels bored with where he lives and what he does. In contrast, he shows what actually excites the boy; the object of his affection. The key to his crush is in the actions of the boy and how he conducts without logic and personal will. Through eloquent descriptions of settings, moods, emotions, wisdom, and a recurring darkness, Araby highlights a boy’s coming-of-age journey to realize his foolish childhood mistake.

In the beginning of “Araby”, the narrator professes his infatuation with a girl over and over. In fact, his love for her is so extreme that he watches her closely and her beauty takes his breath away. However, he has not yet spoken to her. Therefore, this infatuation is based solely on looks, mannerisms, and the wonders of his young imagination. After quite the description of his feelings for her, the girl speaks to the narrator for the first time. When the girl speaks to the narrator they talk about a bazaar. Unfortunately for the narrator, she cannot go to this bazaar with him, and the boy decides that he will bring her back a gift. The narrator has this bazaar painted in his mind as a wonderful and exciting place, but when he arrives he

In this short story, the young boy views Araby as a symbol of a mystical appeal of the Middle East. “He asked me where I was going and, when I told him a second time, he asked me did I know The Arab's Farewell to his Steed” (500). When he crosses the river to attend the bazaar and purchase a gift for the Mangan girl, it symbolizes him crossing into a foreign land, like a knight during the Monarchy times, on a mission on behalf of his lady. But his trip to the bazaar disappoints him, awakening him to the harsh reality of life around him.

Life is often linked with hardships and strife. When such times come, most people look to faith either in the church or faith in fate. Certain events in someone’s life may send them searching for something that they can find comfort in, something familiar and steady. For most people, strength and security from the virulent world is found in both faith and hope. When times are hard what can people do?

169). The rooms are described as, “musty from having been long enclosed, hung in all the rooms, and the waste room behind the kitchen was littered with old useless newspapers (p. 169).” Already, the reader can get an image in their head using a bit of imagination. The setting at the beginning of the story suggests that the boy lives in an older building. Not only is the building depicted as old but the former tenant who lived in the house was a priest (p. 169). The settings also move to the bazaar that the boy attends in hopes that he can purchase an item for Mangan’s sister. The bazaar is called Araby, which happens to be the title of the story. The bazaar is a charitable event one that the boy hopes to attend. By the time the boy could attend the bazaar, it was shutting down for the evening as the boy had arrived late into the night. The boy was discouraged into buying any items from the vendors because the one that was open the vendor had a distasteful tone in her voice and it was not at all encouraging for the boy (p. 173). The setting is just one component of the story the plot is

The work of literature “Midaq Alley” by Naguib Mahfouz introduces the audience an Arab culture through his descriptions of different characters. Each character is used as an analogue, representing people in the alley with different beliefs and ambitions. Moreover, the characteristics of Mahfouz’s characters also draw international readers’ attention concerning how westernization takes place.