4. James Joyce
• James Joyce was an Irish novelist, poet and
literary critic.
• He contributed to the modernist avant-
garde movement and is regarded as one of the
most influential and important writers of the
20th century.
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• Joyce's novel Ulysses (1922) is a landmark in which the episodes
of Homer's Odyssey are paralleled in a variety of literary styles,
particularly stream of consciousness.
• Other well-known works are the short-story collection Dubliners (1914),
and the novels A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916)
and Finnegans Wake (1939).
• His other writings include three books of poetry, a play, letters, and
occasional journalism.
7. Summary
• "Araby" is a short story by James
Joyce published in his 1914 collection Dubliners.
The story traces a young boy's infatuation with
his friend's sister.
• A young boy who is similar in age and
temperament to those in "The Sisters" and "An
Encounter" develops a crush on Mangan's
sister, a girl who lives across the street.
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• One evening she asks him if he plans to go to a bazaar (a fair
organized, probably by a church, to raise money for charity) called
Araby.
• The girl will be away on a retreat when the bazaar is held and
therefore unable to attend. The boy promises that if he goes he will
bring her something from Araby.
• The boy lived with his uncle and aunt. The narrator’s house former
tenant, priest who died in the drawing room. He is referenced
because some of his belongings, including three books that the
narrator is interested in, are still at the house.
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• The boy requests and receives permission to attend the bazaar on
Saturday night. When Saturday night comes, however, his uncle returns
home late, possibly having visited a pub after work.
• After much anguished waiting, the boy receives money for the bazaar, but
by the time he arrives at Araby, it is too late. The event is shutting down
for the night, and he does not have enough money to buy something nice
for Mangan's sister anyway. The boy sobs in frustration.