The tribulations of becoming an adult as depicted in Araby

The tribulations of becoming an adult as depicted in Araby

There are numerous challenges that people undergo as they grow from one stage of life to another. The primary reason for the manifestation of these challenges is because they are new things that have not been experienced before by the individuals in question. In James Joyce’s story; Araby, the theme of coming of age has been widely explored through the life of the narrator. In the story, the narrator, who is currently a grown man uses mature tone to narrate his youthful escapades and the challenges he faced when transitioning from youthful age to adulthood age (DiYanni 43). A significant experience that seems to have been very challenging to him is love life.  This particular essay explores the challenges that one can face when moving from one stage of life to another particularly from childhood to adulthood in relation to Joyce Story Araby. Often, people face a hard time experiencing new things as they come of age, the issue of developing feelings towards the opposite sex is a major challenge that many people handle differently.

The evidence of coming to age or rather facing the realities of adulthood has been revealed through the fact that that the protagonist narrates the story when he is already grown. The story has been narrated from an adult perspective to show that the issues within the story regard the issues that individuals face when they grow up. The development of the narrator is depicted through his relationship with the friends he had. In most instances, when people grow up and become adults, they distance themselves from their friends and concentrate on their relationship and family matters. In the story, when his infatuation towards Mangan’s sister deeply consumes the protagonist, he distances himself from his friends and rarely plays with them and also loses interest in school.  This can be evidenced when the author says “when he suddenly realizes how foolish he has been, his anger at himself is intensified by his alienation from everyone and the resulting feeling of isolation” (Joyce 336).

Also, the things that used to be important to him become less important after and there are instances whereby he feels superior than his friends. These thoughts disturb the boy so much, and he is confused about the realities that come along with a person becoming an adult (DiYanni 45). This challenge is depicted when the narrator says, “I could not call my wondering thoughts together”  he complains  “I hardly any practice with the serious work of life which bit that it stood between me and my desire seemed to me child’s play, ugly monotonous child’s play” (Joyce, 337).

When people grow from childhood to adulthood, it is a common thing for people to perceive themselves as superior to their peers. This has been evidenced in the story as the narrator saw himself as superior and started spending less time with his friends. It is also depicted in the story that during this particular period, he began observing his friends as outsiders.

When people are young, they are usually innocent and unaware of many things within their surroundings. The story starts with the images of blindness which symbolizes ignorance and innocence that is found when a someone is still a child or rather in their youthful ages. In the story, Joyce has described the boy as blind to indicate his innocence, and through the challenges, he tries to bring out the challenges that people face when they try to be adults. From the blind shadows of childhood age that the boy has, he sees Mangan’s sister, and as a sign of being enlightened by adult feelings, the author describes the shape of the girl as one that is “defined by the light of the half-open door” (Joyce, 337). As the story of the girl is developed within the story, the narrator sees the image of the girl changing from darkness to light and his feelings also change from immature childhood that is consumed with so much innocence to enlightened adolescence feelings.

Making a promise is one thing but fulfilling the promise is another. The narrator makes a promise to Magnan’s sister, a girl across the street whom he has been in love for some time and asked her if she could accompany her to the bazaar, but the girl declines to claim that she has a retreat that weekend (Joyce 333). The boy goes ahead to promise the girl that she will bring her a gift from the bazaar when he comes back. Being late on arrival at the bazaar, he finds almost all the stores have been closed, only a few are open, but the goods are too expensive for him. The reality now kicks in, and he notices that his promise to Magnan’s sister would not be fulfilled. Fumbling into adulthood, he knows that he cannot keep his word to her and realizes that he has been acting foolishly all along. All the hustles that the narrator undergoes to find a gift for the girl are things that are experienced in adulthood, but the narrator finds it hard handling the situation (DiYanni 46).

Furthermore, it is also a common thing for adults to fail to get what they wanted. However, this is not a typical thing among children, and when the narrator losses what he desired most in the story, he is very angry. The anger shown on the narrator is a sign that he is facing a very challenging period as he is getting accustomed to adulthood feelings. The quest for ideality and love are the things that lead to the downfall of the narrator. When he exits the bazaar, the loss of his love’s image makes him feel a loser and very angry with himself. This is evidence in the story where the narrator says that “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity, and my eyes burned with anguish and anger (Joyce 355)”. Here the narrator has a challenge managing is emotions and that is why he is angry.

In conclusion, there are numerous challenges that people face when they grow into adults. From the story and its analysis, it is clear that young people find themselves in challenging situations because they have spent most of their lives in innocence. Often, children are used to obtaining nearly everything that they want and desire; however, as they come of age, the innocence is broken paving the way for adulthood which is a period filled with notions of enlightenment. From the study, there are several changes accompanied by challenges that seem to happen to the narrator as he changes from childhood to adulthood. Significant changes are his relationship with his friends and attraction to a girl across the street. Deducing from the challenges that were faced by the author in the course of his desire to the time that he loses the infatuation and becomes angry at himself, it is imperative that children are taught on what to expect when they are adults. This will help children manage their emotions as they transform from one stage to another in their lives.

Works Cited

DiYanni, Robert. Literature: Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2008. Print.

Joyce, James. Araby. ,Toronto:  HarperPerennial Classics.  2014. Internet resource.