【精品】题目阿拉比的一项主题研究

【精品】题目阿拉比的一项主题研究 中文摘要阿拉比是都柏林人的短篇小说集的第三篇作品，是詹姆斯?乔伊斯早期现实小说中的一篇，作品中的“我”是一个天真无邪，正在长大的孩子，其实也是乔伊丝童年的经历，他住在“李奇蒙北街”的死巷里。 处于青春期的他，对爱情开始有了朦胧的感觉，他喜欢上邻居的姐姐，却不知道如何“向她表白我那神魂颠倒的思慕之情”。 通过对作者所处年代的分析和作品所反应出的社会背景及其他方位的描述，来介绍这部作品。 通过全方位的介绍，使大家能更好的了解作者著这部作品的深层含义。 关键词斗争意识启迪寂寞解救A ThematicStudy of Araby Abstract:Arbayisthe DublinPeoplethe short story collections thirdwork,is Jamesin Qiaoyisiearly timerealistic novelone,in thework“I”is simple-hearted,is growing up thechild,is also the Qiaoyisichildhood experienceactually,he livesnorth“Li Qimengthe street”in blindalley.Is in the pubertyhe,started tolove tohave thedim feeling,he likedon theneighbor eldersister,actually didnot knowhow“to herto vindicatemy thatwas notoneself admiresthe sentiment”.Through locatesthe ageanalysis to the authorand thework respondedthe socialbackground andother positions description,introduces this work.Through theomni-directional introduction,enables everybodythe better understanding authorthisworkin-depth meaning.Key word:struggle;realizes;enlightens;rescues;lonely1.Introduction Araby is one of thefifteen shortstories thattogether makeup James Joyces collection,Dubliners.In Dubliners,James Joyceprimarily seeksto illustratethe paralysis instilled in Dublin.Joyce ausesmany institutionsof stiflingthe lifestylesof Dubliners,including the Catholic churchand familialconfines.The firstthree stories are told from thepoint of view of a young boy,Araby is the laststory of the firstset,and it is toldfrom the perspective of a boy just on the verge of adolescence.It is a shortplex storythat is a reflectionof Joyces ownlife as a boygrowingupin Dublin.Joyce usesthe voiceof a young boyas anarrator,he municatesthe confusedthoughts and dreams through the youngmale protagonist,sothenarrator seemsmuch moremature thenthe boy in the story.The storyfocuses on the themesof socialparalysis,epiphany andlonging for escape aboutdarkness,despair,loneliness andenlightenment.And it is theretrospective of Joyces lookingback athis lifewhich involvesthe constantstruggle between the brightideals and the darkreality.And the boys questends infailure butresults in an innerawareness and his first step intomanhood.Key Words:struggle;awareness;enlightenment;loneliness;escape2.Context ofAraby James Joyce,oneof the mostradical innovatorsof the twentieth-century writing,dedicated himselfto exuberantexploration ofmens livingsituation inIreland,especially in Dublin.James Joycegrew upas arebel amongrebels.Those movements,whether politicalor literary,had as their objectivethe freeof Ireland from Englishdominance.2.1Social BackgroundofArabyAs Joycewas bornin Dublin which isthe capitalof Ireland,Ireland permeatesall of Joyces writing,especially Irelandduring the last part of the nieenth centuryand thetumultuously earlytwentieth century.At thattime,Ireland underwenta dramatiultural revival.Ireland splinteredinto factionsof Protestantsand Catholics,Conservatives andNationalists.Such socialforces forma plexcontext forJoyces writing,which repeatedlytaps intopolitical andreligious matters.Joyces Dublinwas posedmostly oflower-to middle-class residentsoppressed byfinancial hardships,foreign politicaldominance,fractiousness amongrival Irishnationalist groups,and theoverwhelming influenceof theIrish CatholicChurch.Combined,in Joyces eyes,these forcesand travailsleft theordinary Dublinerwith fewoptions forself-expression orfreedom of the soul,hence,Joyces themesof paralysis and frustrationwere established.2.2The DublinCity In the yearsofJoyces time,the wholeIreland becamea bleakcountry,especially thecapital Dublin.The DublinJoyce knewwas a city indecline.At thebeginning of thenieenthcentury,Dublin had been thesecond cityof theBritish Islesand oneof theten largestcities inEurope.Charming architecture,an elegantlayout,and abustling portmade fora dynamicand agreeableurban life.But laterin thecentury,Belfast hadoutstripped itasthegreat cityof Ireland,and theeconomy was in shambles.Formerly fashionableGeorgian townhousesbecame horribleslums,with inadequatesewage andcramped livingconditions,the portswere indecline,and chancesfor advancementwere slimfor the lower andmiddle classes.Power restedin thehands of a Protestantminority.Not surprisingly,Dubliners dwellsheavily on the themesof povertyand stagnation.Joyce seesparalysis inevery detailof Dublins environment,from the peoples facesto thedilapidated buildings,and manypeople assumethat thefuture will be worsethan the present.Most of his storiesfocus onmembers of theloweror middleclasses.This portraitof Dublin and itspeople isnot alwaysa flatteringone.Joyce alwaysexplores howthe socialentrapments adverselyaffect characters.He seeshis hometownas acity divided,often againstitself,and theaura ofdefeat anddecline pervadesevery tale.He is often deeplycritical ofIrish provinciality,theCatholicChurch,and theIrish politicalclimate of the time.But thecollection iscalled Dubliners,not Dublin,which aimsto expressthe Dublinpeoples stiflinglife that affected by the dark society seriously.The realpower of Dubliners isJoyces depictionof thestrong characterswhose liveand workin thisdistinctive andbleak city.2.3Araby in Dubliners Araby is ashortstorycollected inDubliners.Although Joycewrote thestories between1904and1906,they werenot publisheduntil1914for thepolitical reason.Dubliners painta portraitof life inDublin,Ireland,at theturn of thetwentiethcentury.Its storiesare arrangedin anorder reflectingthe developmentof achild into a grownman.The firstthree storiesare toldfrom thepoint ofview ofa young boy,the threeof them,in fact,conclude with the awarenessof theprotagonist ofbeing trapped in thevisual world of print.Araby isthe laststory of the firstset,and is toldfrom theperspectiveofaboyjustonthevergeofadolescence.This storybecame oneof themaster worksinDubliners.3.Setting andAtmosphere in Araby The boy in the storyAraby isintensely subjectto thecitys dark,hopeless conformity,and histragic yearningtoward theexotic lifein theface ofdrab,ugly realityforms thecenter of the story.On itssimplest level,Araby is a storyabout aboys first love.however,it isa storyabout the world in which helives and also a world inimicalto idealsanddreams.This deeperlevel isintroduced anddeveloped inseveral scenes:the openingdescription of the boys street,his house,his relationshipto his aunt and uncle,the informationabout the priest andhis belongings,the boys twotrips-his walksthrough Dublinshopping andhis subsequentride toAraby.North Richmond Street isdescribed metaphoricallyand presentsthe readerwith his first view of the boys world.The streetis blind,it isa deadend,yet itsinhabitants aresmugly placent.The housesare“imperturbable”in the“quiet”,the“cold”,the“dark muddylanes”and“dark drippinggardens”(吴伟仁xx:457),here the first useof situationalirony isintroduced,because anyonewho isaware,who isnot spirituallyblinded orasleep,would feeloppressed andendangered byNorth Richmond Street.The description of the houses reflects the negativeattitudes of their inhabitants,thepeoplewho livethere(represented by the boysaunt anduncle)are notthreatened,however,they arefalsely piousand deeplyself-satisfied.The backgroundor world of blindnessextends froma generalviewof the street and itsinhabitants to the boys personalrelationships.It isnot ageneration gapbut agap in the spirit,in empathyand consciouscaring,that resultsin theuncles failureto arrivehome intime for the boy to go to the bazaar whileit is still open.The unclehas nodoubt beento thelocal pub,negligent and indifferent to the boys anguishand impatience,the boywaits wellinto the evening in the“imperturbable”house withits mustysmell andold,useless objectsthat fillthe rooms.The house,like theauntanduncle,and like the entireneighborhood,reflects peoplewho arewell intentionedbut narrowin theirviews andblind tohigher values.The totaleffect ofsuch settingis anatmosphere permeatedwith stagnationand isolation.The useof symbolicdescription of the deadpriest andhis belongingssuggest Ona deeperlevel,remnants ofa morevital past.The bicyclepump rustingin therain in the backyard and the oldyellowed booksin theback roomindicate that the priestonce activelyengaged inreal serviceto Godand man,and further,from thetitles of the books,that hewas aperson givento bothpiety andflights ofimagination.But the priest isdead,his pumprusts,his booksyellow.The effectis todeepen,through asense ofa deadpast and the spiritualand intellectualstagnation of thepresent.Into thisatmosphere of spiritual paralysisthe boybears,with blindhopes andromantic dreams,he encounterswith the first love,inablending of romantic andChristian symbolshe transformsin his mind aperfectly ordinarygirl into an enchantedprincess:untouchable,promising,saintly.Setting in this scenedepicts theharsh,dirty realityof lifewhich the boy blindlyignores.The contrastbetween thereality and the boys dreamsis ironicallydrawn andclearly foreshadowsthe boys inability to keepthe dream,and onlyto remainblind.The boys finaldisappointment oursas a result of his awakeningto the world aroundhim.The tawdrysuperficiality of the bazaar,which in his mindhadbeenan“Oriental enchantment”,strips awayhis blindnessand leaveshim alonewith therealization thatlife and love differfrom the dream.Araby,the symbolictemple oflove,is profane.The bazaaris darkand empty,it thrivesonthesame profitmotive asthe marketplace“two menwere countingmoney ona salver”(ibid.:462),and thelove hereis onlyrepresented as an empty,passing flirtation.Araby isa storyof firstlove,even more,it isa portraitofaworld thatdefies theideal and the dream.Thus settinginthis story beesthe truesubject,embodying anatmosphere of spiritual paralysisagainst whichayoung boys idealisticdreams areno match.Realizing this,the boytakes hisfirststepinto adulthood.4.Major Themesin ArabyBased onthe furtherstudy of the boys innerexperience,the themesof the story canbe analyzedfrom thefollowing perspectives.4.1Social ParalysisThe storyopens with the themesof darkness and blindness.The descriptionof NorthRichmond Street,a“blind”,“cold”,“silent”street where the houses“gazed atone anotherwith brown imperturbable faces”overwhelms readerswith feelingsof oppressionand endangerment.Everything hereseems to be deador decayingin the“quiet andcold street,”“dark muddylanes”and“dark drippinggardens”(ibid.:457).The boys househas thesame deadpresence andlost past,this isa darknessthat extendsthroughout the story,when hefinally reachesthe bazaar,it is still fullof darkness,the boysaid in the novel“nearly allstalls wereclosed and the greaterpart of the hallwasindarkness”(ibid.:462),which partlyreflectstheenvironment of Dublinerslife.Joyce usesimages of darkness in Araby toreveal the setting,internal moodof thecharacters and theme,thesettingis fullof darkimages toinform readersof the story,the settingswhere the story takes place aregloomy andcold,moreover,darkness revealscondition andsurrounding areaaround characters,this isillustrated by the useofdarkimages such as“Dark drippinggarden”,and“dark muddylanes”(ibid.:457).Darkness alsoreflects melancholyand obstaclesin thesociety where the boy lives,for example,the boy states“I lookedover at the darkhouse whereshe lived”(ibid.:460),which showshe hasno abilityto breakthrough the darkness toconfess hisinternal feelingto the girl butlingered before her house,actually,this alsodescribes thecondition of the boys relationto reality,and the story endswith an image ofeyes seeing,this alsorepresented mostDublinersinternal moodand thinking,the imperturbablesociety burnedwith darknessand blindnessbut nothing.4.2Spiritual paralysisJoyces tales,faithful to his intentions,portray impotence,frustration anddeath,his cityistheheart ofmoral,intellectual andspiritual paralysisand all the citizensare victims.Joyce hadsaid of Dubliners,that he intended to“write achapter in the moralhistory ofmy countryand Ichose Dublinfor thescene becausethat cityseemed to me thecentre of paralysis”(Joyce1966:36).Paralysis,a livingdeath or total anesthesiaof thesenses,seems to be theexistential conditionofDublinersand itscrux.Joyce himselfconfirmed thisinaletter ofJuly1904,where hesaid that heintendedDubliners“to betraythe soulof that hemiplegia orparalysis whichmany consideracity”(ibid.:55).In the novel ofAraby Joycecontinued thistheme.The imagesof this story showthat thespiritual environmentof the boy isparalyzed throughthe blindstreetand the darkand mustylanes.In thestory,the young boy has a desire,faces obstaclesto it,then ultimatelyrelents andsuddenly stopsall action,these momentsofparalysisshow hisinabilitytochange hislife andreverse theroutines thathamper hiswish.In thenovel,the authorwrites“I lingeredbefore herstall,though Iknew mystay useless,to makemy interestin herwares seemthe moralreal.”(吴伟仁xx:463)The boystates histhoughts throughthis monologue,he haltsin themiddle of thedarkbazaar,knowing thathe willnever escape the tediousdelays ofDublin and attain love,throughout thedescription,this stiflingstate appearsas partof dailylifeinDublin,which allDubliners ultimatelyacknowledge andaept.It is also stressedby aimlesswandering in theeveningor atnight throughthe Dublinstreets whichlead nowhereor etoablind end,charges thewhole storywith afeeling ofloss andhopelessness andreveals ablind,labyrinthine fallenworld whereall humanvalues havedegenerated andhuman willhas brokendown,where people,to usean metaphor,have turnedto stoneand thereforeare pletelyparalyzed.4.3Religion andEpiphany Religion isadaily ritualof repetitionthat advancesno one.In Araby,religion actsas ametaphor fordedication thatdwindles.The presenceof somany religiousreferences alsosuggests thatreligion trapsDubliners intothinking about their livesafter death.However,the Epiphanyalso startsfrom thereligion.4.3.1The ChurchinArabyThis shortstory is filled withsymbolic imagesofa church,andthe boy onceplaced hishope anddreams onthe church,he isfiercely determinedto investin someonewithin the church theholiness he feels should be thenatural stateof allwithin it,but asuession ofexperiences forceshim tosee that his determinationisinvain.When herealizes that his dreamsof holinessandloveare inconsistentwiththeactual world,his angerand anguishare directed,not towardthe Church,but towardhimself as“a creaturedriven andderided byvanity”(ibid.:463).Joyce targetsCatholicism asthe primarysource ofparalysis,and hedescribes thebooks leftbehind bythe priestwho formerlyoupied thenarrators house:“I founda fewpaper-covered books,the pagesof whichwere curleddamp TheAbbot,by WalterScott,The DevoutCommunicant andThe Memoirs of Vidocq.I like thelastbest becauseits leaveswere yellow.”(ibid.:456)The yellowcolor ofthe pagessuggests that the priestread thisbook more often thanthe others.Ironically,a priest,whose dutyistopromote sanctity,read TheMemoirsofVidocq,a bookdetailing theexploits ofa criminal,moreoftenthan heread theother twobooks basedon religion.Joyce suggeststhat illusionsin Catholicismsuchasthis havea stronginfluence onthe paralysisofDublin.The storyends Joyces apparentcondemnation ofCatholicism,as hebrings downthe VirginMary figuretoamere human,to goalong with his mentaryonthepriest earlyon.Basically,he seemedto pointto thecorruption ofthe churchin thatthepriests belongingsincluded aProtestant tract,andhisfairly significantpossessions,when priestsare supposedto livelives ofpoverty.The famedfinal lineofthestory expressesJoyces owndisillusionment withthe churchin hislifetime“I sawmyself asa creaturedriven andderided byvanity;and myeyes burnedwith anguishand anger”(ibid.:463).Thus doesJoyce expresshis personalpain throughthe boy,and it is madeeven morepoignant bythefirstperson pointofviewinwhichthestory is written.4.3.2Epiphany Theepiphany inthis novelof childhood,told in thefirstperson,is feltasamoment ofgrowth andof realizationofthe boynarrator.This novel,in fact,concluded withthe awarenessoftheprotagonist ofbeing trappedinthevisual worldof print.Characters experienceboth greatand smallrevelations in their everydaylives,moments thatJoyce himselfreferred toas“epiphanies”,a wordwith connotationsof religiousrevelation.These epiphaniesdo notbring newexperiences andthe possibilityof reform,but letcharacters tobetterunderstandtheir particularcircumstances,usually rifewith sadnessand routine,which theythen returnto withresignation andfrustration.The boynarrator behaveslikethehero ofa romantictale safelycarrying his love likea“chalice”throughthesordid worldof huckstersand drunksofDublin.He carrieshis innocentvision oftheworldwith him but hetoo ismeant torealize thattheworldof his dreams andexpectations isillusory.At thefair,the boyoverhears thefollowing conversation:“O,I neversaid sucha thing!O,but youdid!O,but Ididnt!Didnt shesay that?Yes.I heardher.O,theresa.fib!”(ibid.:462)this ismuch morethan simplyrecorded conversation,therefore,it revealsthe relationshipbetweenthe boy-narrator andthe epiphany.The shortepiphanic conversationbrings forththe moment of discoveryand awareness,andthe boy listensto theinsane conversationand graspsnot onlythe quiddityoftheenvironment inwhich he finds himself(ground)but alsoof himself(figure).He realizesthe vacuityofthepeople aswell asthe aimlessnessof hisown expectations,this realizationtakesplacewhen“the lightwas out”(ibid.:463),suggesting thatatthemomentofthe acoustilash,sight hasbeen replacedby insightor innervision.At theend ofthenovel,the boyhas metamorphosedinto acheated creature“driven andderided byvanity”(ibid.:463).This alsorepresents peoples epiphanyinthedarksociety.4.4Frustration andLonging forEscape Frustrationisanimportant theme inAraby.As the boy dealswiththelimits imposedon himby hissituation,he hasa seriesofromanticideas,about the girl andthe wondrousevent thathe willgotothe bazaaron herbehalf,but atnight when he awaitshis uncles returnso thathe cango there,we feelthe boys frustrationmounting.For atime,the boyfears hemay not be able to goat all,when hefinally doesarrive,the bazaaris moreor lessover,his fantas