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Beck Dean

Professor Trehearne

ENGL 311: Poetics

November 29th, 2021

James Joyce’s “Araby”: The Character and Characterization of the Protagonist

In his short story “Araby,” James Joyce recounts the coming of age experience of a

pubescent male protagonist. Through the perspective of the persona, this character’s future self,

Joyce initially portrays the protagonist to be a naive, idealistic Christan boy. These

characteristics cause the boy to believe that he is in love with his friend Mangan’s sister and lead

him to the Araby bazaar, where Joyce depicts his character’s transition from youthful idealism to

adolescent self-awareness. Joyce employs corporeal imagery, religious undertones, leitmotifs and

a juxtaposition to characterize the protagonist as a boy whose naivete and religion engender his

idealist misconception of love, as well as his coming of age.

Joyce’s frequent use of corporeal imagery and religious undertones imparts that the

protagonist’s religion has obscured his conception of love. In the persona’s first description of

Mangan’s sister, he solely acknowledges her physical appearance: “Her dress swung as she

moved her body” (Joyce, 727). In this instance of corporeal imagery, Joyce highlights the

protagonist’s fixation on the sister’s figure and attire. In “Dubliners in Winter: A Study of

Joyce’s ‘Chapter of Moral History’,” Elizabeth Hargrave states that Joyce’s protagonists often

possess “a lack of depth and understanding and an absence of any real feeling” in romantic

relationships (Hargrave, 11). Joyce’s recurrent use of corporeal imagery substantiates this claim,

as it reveals that the protagonist’s conception of love is rooted in physical appearance. For the
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majority of the story, the protagonist naively believes that he is in love with Mangan’s sister

(Joyce, 728). However, his static preoccupation with her “figure” (Joyce, 727, 729) and omission

of her individualistic traits contradict this belief entirely. This discrepancy accords the

protagonist with a sense of dramatic irony and a plausible degree of naivete. Through these

ironic implications, Joyce’s use of corporeal imagery communicates the boy’s superficial and

naive conception of love.

Joyce’s persistent inclusion of religious undertones reveals that the protagonist’s

misconception of love stems from his Christianity. As the persona describes his past self’s state

of infatuation, Joyce employs religious imagery and similes; “My body was like a harp and her

words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires” (Joyce, 728). As harp music

originates in Protestant Christian music, the image of a harp serves as an allusion to the boy’s

religious disposition. However, the image of the sister’s fingers upon the harp is inherently

suggestive, as it implies that the boy longs for her intimate touch. These contradicting

implications render the boy’s character round and sympathetic, as they encapsulate the sexual

repression that often accompanies one’s Christian beliefs. As stated in Albert Wachtel’s “Critical

Insights: James Joyce,” Joyce’s protagonists typically “sanctify [their] secular attractions” due to

the “distorting impositions of the church” (Wachtel, 5). Joyce’s use of suggestive, religious

imagery thus exhibits the protagonist’s subconscious, religious impulse to suppress his foreign

desires. Joyce underpins this claim through the protagonist’s subsequent prayers. Rather than

acting on his desire-driven urges, the boy incessantly prays: “O love! O love” (Joyce, 728). As

Christian belief often disdains secular sexuality, Joyce’s repetition of ‘love’ displays the boy’s

urge to associate his feelings of lust with love; an emotion deemed to be more sacred. When

considered alongside his employment of corporeal imagery, Joyce’s implicit use of religious
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undertones ultimately portrays the protagonist as a boy whose sentiments are obscured by

naivety and religious belief.

While the protagonist’s blinding idealism facilitates his infatuation with Mangan’s sister,

his attempt to win her affection expedites his coming of age. Joyce’s works often incorporate the

leitmotifs of light and darkness to “expose the unfeasible ideals and the bleak realities that

pervade the lives of the people in Dublin” (Hargrave, 62). In “Araby,” Joyce repeatedly employs

the leitmotif of light to convey the protagonist’s deification of Mangan’s sister. As Mangan’s

sister relays her plans to attend a retreat with her convent, the persona describes how “the light

from [a] lamp… [catches] the white curve of her neck” (Joyce, 728) and illuminates her body.

While the lamp’s light beam alludes to the light which ostensibly streams down from heaven, the

sister’s submergence in whiteness and light causes her to resemble an ethereal being. Joyce’s use

of light in this passage first reinforces the protagonist’s naivety. As a result of his romantic

inexperience, the boy idealizes the sister’s presence as if she is an angel or a god. Moreover, the

persona’s draught to light in this passage allows the protagonist further irony, as it reinforces his

infatuation’s delusional nature. Due to his fixation on the sister’s appearance, the boy naively

overlooks that her involvement in a convent will likely lead her to a life of chastity. This state of

ignorance additionally grants the protagonist sympathy, as his delusion clearly stems from his

naivete and devout disposition. In this regard, Joyce’s use of a light leitmotif imparts that the

boy’s naive idealism has blinded him from the sister’s evident unattainability.

At the Araby Bazaar, the protagonist becomes a dynamic character through his epiphanic

coming of age. Joyce both foreshadows and reflects the boy’s acquisition of self-awareness and

induction to adolescence through the leitmotif of darkness. On the night of the Araby bazaar, the

protagonist resides within the “gloomy rooms” of his home and observes his “companions
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playing below in the street” (Joyce, 729). Through this space’s sombre atmosphere, Joyce

foreshadows the boy’s epiphany at the bazaar. As the boy no longer plays with his friends until

he “glow[s]” (Joyce, 727), his placement in this dim space suggests an increased degree of

maturity. Consequently, this passage implies that the protagonist’s decision to attend the bazaar

has prompted his transition from youthful idealism to adolescence and self-awareness.

Joyce augments this atmospheric darkness as the boy arrives at the bizarre “the greater

part of the hall was in darkness” (Joyce, 730). Through this passage’s increased presence of

darkness, Joyce reflects the protagonist’s disillusionment with the bazaar and presages his

epiphany once more. As the boy’s “magical” () expectations for the market are met with

disappointment, his ingenuous, idealized conception of the space disintegrates. Through this ill-

lit, “unidealized view” (Hargrave, 1) of the bazaar, Joyce anticipates the protagonist’s

recognition of his naive, idealistic disposition.

As the protagonist realizes that his ‘love’ for Mangan’s sister is superficial and futile,

Joyce immerses the bazaar in darkness: “the upper part of the hall was now completely dark”

(Joyce, 730). This image of absolute darkness communicates the protagonist’s epiphanic shift in

perspective. As the boy’s experience at the bizarre dismantles his once-glorified view of love,

Joyce’s use of darkness in this passage communicates that the boy has matured by obtaining a

grasp on reality. Hence, Joyce’s leitmotifs of light and darkness reflect the boy’s transition from

youthful idealism to adolescent self-awareness.

The Araby bazaar is essential to the protagonist’s dynamic transformation. Joyce’s

protagonists typically experience a perceptual shift from one view of reality to another. Joyce

uses “the word ‘epiphany’ to describe these moments” (Wachtel, 66) of abrupt realization and

self-discovery. Through his use of symbolism, juxtaposition and leitmotif at the Araby bazaar,
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Joyce prompts and reflects the protagonist’s epiphanic maturation. Despite his uncle’s

insufficient donation of “a florin” (Joyce, 729), the protagonist still attempts to acquire a gift for

Mangan’s sister: “I went over to one of the stalls and examined porcelain vases and flowered tea-

sets” (Joyce, 730). While the ‘porcelain’ pigment of the vases symbolizes the sister’s devotion to

God, the tea-sets’ floral patterns represent her chastity. Through the protagonist’s examination of

these religious symbols, Joyce reinforces his irony. While the vases and tea sets are well beyond

the boy’s price range, he continues to believe that he can make a purchase. This disregard is

symbolic of the protagonist’s sympathetic yet futile pursuit of Mangan’s sister. Despite the

sister’s evident devotion to God, the boy continues to believe that he can win her affection.

Joyce’s use of religious symbolism in this passage thus reflects the protagonist’s obliviousness to

the sister’s unattainability.

Throughout this period of observation, the persona overhears an exchange between the

stall’s employees: “—O, I never said such a thing!/ —O, but you did!” (Joyce, 730). Moments

after this conversation, the boy abruptly decides that he will not purchase anything at the bazaar

(730). Joyce creates a stark juxtaposition to the protagonist’s relationship with Mangan’s sister

and elicits his epiphanic coming of age through this seemingly insignificant conversation. As the

boy recognizes this exchange’s flirtatious, spirited nature, he realizes that he and the sister’s

relationship holds a closer resemblance to that between him and the bazaar’s products. Through

the protagonist’s subsequent decision to leave the bazaar empty-handed, Joyce conveys this

distinct shift in perspective. As the boy recognizes his shallow conception of love and the sister’s

plausible disinterest, he decides that there is no point in purchasing a gift. Through this

sequence’s evident juxtaposition, Joyce subtly engenders the protagonist’s epiphany.

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In the story’s concluding sentence, Joyce signifies the protagonist’s paradigm shift to

adolescence and self-awareness through the leitmotif of darkness. As the boy “[gazes] up into the

darkness” of the Araby bazaar, he views himself as "a creature driven and derided by vanity”

(Joyce, 730). In this moment of introspection, the protagonist accepts the reality of his situation

and demonstrates a newfound sense of cognition. Through this epiphany, Joyce establishes the

protagonist as a dynamic character. By looking into the darkness, the boy symbolically accepts

that “religious, romantic fantasies are not what genuine human relationships are about” (Wachtel,

4). Furthermore, the protagonist’s acknowledgement of his vanity signifies his acquisition of

self-awareness and, by extension, his maturity. As the boy deplores his self-deception and

naivety, Joyce imparts that he recognizes the consequences of his naive, religious and idealistic

behaviour. Joyce characterizes the protagonist as a boy whose infatuation ultimately leads to his

growth and dynamism through these literary devices.

In light of these arguments, Joyce portrays the protagonist within “Araby” as an ironic,

sympathetic, round and dynamic character. Through several instances of corporeal imagery,

Joyce imparts the boy’s fixation on the sister’s body and alludes to his naive understanding of

infatuation. Ensuingly, Joyce includes religious undertones to depict how the protagonist’s

Christianity has impeded his distinction between lust and romantic love. When the protagonist

decides to purchase a gift for Mangan’s sister at the Araby bazaar, Joyce’s employment of light

and dark leitmotifs foreshadow and reflect the boy’s transition from youthful idealism to

maturation and cognizance. Finally, Joyce’s creation of a juxtaposition between the boy’s

relationship with Mangan’s sister and the bazaar’s employees initiates the protagonist’s

epiphanic coming of age. Through his implicit use of these devices, Joyce ultimately
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substantiates that consequences of the protagonist’s naivete, idealism and religion provoke his

development of self-awareness and induction to adolescence.

Works Cited

- Hargrave, Elizabeth G. Dubliner’s in Winter: A Study of Joyce’s “Chapter of Moral

History.” 1970.

- Joyce, James. “Araby.” The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction, Norton, New York, 1990.

- Wachtel, Albert. Critical Insights: James Joyce. Salem Press, 2013.