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Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Essay on Isolation

Essay on Isolation

Araby by James Joyce has a very strong sense of isolation and alienation. The young boy in the story was probably about fourteen, maybe fifteen years old and he was just starting to discover his sexual interest and attraction to girls. The story never goes far enough to reveal the narrator's name, or the name of the girl that he was so in love with.
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The story probably took place in the 1960s maybe 1970s, and it was probably set in the city. The young boy lives with his aunt and uncle, so the reader can assume that his parents died. The boy seems pretty happy in the very beginning of the story when he is playing outside with his friend Mangan. Later, when the boy had to go home, his mood and thoughts seemed to switch and become more on a depressed level. The boy seems very isolated and alienated from a lot of the world. The story starts out by describing the boy's street as being "blind" (meaning a dead end street). It also describes the houses as "gazing at one another". This gives off a strong feeling of a dark, lonely, and isolated neighborhood.

A priest previously had lived with the boy and his aunt and uncle. The priest, however, had died in the back drawing room of the house. The boy went into the room one day. He described the air as very musty. He also described a waste basket in the room as very littered and dusty. While the boy was in this room all by himself, I got the feeling that he probably felt very lonely and maybe even depressed. This house was apparently on the larger side, and since there were currently only the three of them living in it, it probably got very quiet and dark.

The reader can tell by the conversations the boy has with his aunt and uncle that he does not have a very close relationship with them. When the boy reminded his uncle in the morning that he wanted to go to the bazaar in the evening, his uncle responded very curtly with a simple "Yes boy, I know". Later on in the evening when the boy's uncle came home, he was drunk, so naturally his wife got mad at him. This part in the story shows that the aunt and uncle probably do not have a very good relationship. Since his aunt and uncle do not have a very good relationship, they probably do not talk to each other all that much. This only would cause more silence and isolation in the house. The boy probably felt very alone and unwanted.

When the boy finally got to leave and go to the Araby bazaar, it was late and dark. The described the train carriage he was on as very deserted. He continued on to describe how slowly the train was moving. When the train passed a crowd of people, the porters moved them back and told them that it was a special train for the bazaar. This also symbolized the sense of alienation; this train was different from the others, it was "special". The poor boy must have felt lonely and maybe even scared sitting all alone in the big train car as it moved so slowly.

The boy promised the girl that he was infatuated with, Mangan's sister, that he would bring her a present from the bazaar. When he got to the bazaar, the time was ten minutes until ten o'clock pm. The bazaar was getting ready to close for the night so there were only a few booths open. The boy was once again alone as he shopped. He described how most of the stalls were closed for the night but there was one that was still open. When he was looking at the stuff in the stall to see what he could bring back for Mangan's sister. The young lady behind the stall was talking to a couple of guys when she noticed him there. She asked him quite rudely if he wanted to buy anything. Once again the boy felt very out of place because of the way this girl had treated him. She belittled him in many ways. Instead of really trying to help him, she blew him off.

When the boy was leaving the bazaar, he described how dark everything was. He described himself as a creature driven and derived by vanity. He was filled with anger and anguish. He was so upset because he had been so foolishly blinded by Mangan's sister, and he didn't even really know her because she had only spoken to him once! He was angry and in many was disgusted with himself.

The author really wanted the reader to see the isolation and alienation that took place in this story. He really wanted the reader to be able to read the story through the boy's eyes so that they could feel the story. The author told this story in first person so that the reader could see how isolated the boy felt.

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Warning!!! All free online essays, sample essays and essay examples on the Isolation topics are plagiarized and cannot be completely used in your school, college or university education.

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