Love overpowers, an unmatched
force. In “Araby”, nothing can stop the love the narrator feels for Mangan’s
sister. Even in places “most hostile to romance” (20) his feelings for her
overcome the incessant drunken men and the pervasiveness of the surrounding
commerce. The Narrator’s love becomes so strong that it reaches the point where
it verges on religion.
While jostling through the crowd,
the boy notes that he “bore [his] chalice.” (20) The clear Catholic imagery of
the chalice refers to the antecedent as the chalice, presumably meaning the
blood of Christ. This would make his love for Mangan’s sister, the most likely
antecedent, a sacrament onto itself. Calling your love interest a sacrament at
his age does not seem healthy. Moreover, her name comes to mind “at moments in
strange prayers and praises.” (20) This seems like the biggest red flag for the
narrator. If her names comes to mind as he prays, he either prays to her as if
she were God or he considers her an intermediary of sorts between him and God,
or potentially even something like a quasi-deity like a saint. All of those
scenarios entail him creating a sort of mythology around this girl that cannot
lead to anything positive. At the very least, putting her on such an
insurmountable pedestal only sets the stage for her to fall as she does in the
end.
Potentially even more
disconcerting, he does “not understand” (20) why he has such strong feelings for
this girl. You would think (or hope) that if someone falls this sharply for
someone, they would at least understand why. Throughout the story, the narrator
does not say much about the girl at all. In fact, at one point he did not know “whether
[he] would ever speak to her or not.” (21) To feel this strongly without having
any firsthand connection with the person is troubling to say the least. While
most people his age have insignificant crushes, he has fallen into a deep,
“confused adoration.” (21) As we watch him fall deeper and deeper
in love, all we can do is sit and wish him well. And that he had more game.
I think the narrator's love comes from an aesthetic desire and not from any sort of intellectual connection. In a way this has to be the case since he doesn't have any contact with her, but there are other factors that point to this. When describing the books in the house he said he likes The Memoirs of Vidocq best because, "its leaves were yellow" (19). He likes things for their aesthetic value, not the content inside. Also, if the pages have turned yellow, it is an older book. Similarly, Mangan's sister is older than the rest of them.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator's creates an interesting relationship between his infatuation and himself, describing a "creature driven and derided by vanity." Curiously, vanity is BOTH the impetus ("driven") and the derisive antagonist ("derided"). What do we make of this? On the surface, we see vanity's fundamental power as both stimulating and deceptive.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, vanity refers to a self-absorption but also, as Barrett said, an aesthetic desire. Clearly, then, Joyce illustrates the dangers of such thinking, risking control over one's self: "But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires."