论阿拉比中的象征主义

1、The Symbols in Araby by James JoyceAbstract: In literature, a symbol is a thing that stands for or suggests something else by reas on of relati on ship, associati on, conven ti on or accide ntal resembla nee, especially a visible sig n of someth ing in visible. Smbolism is an import means for a writ

2、er to create excelle nt work. As in the no vel Araby, Joyce used large amounts of symbolic imageries in the whole story.Key words: Araby symbolism Bli nd priestBy an alyz ing the symbols in Araby, we can have a deep in sight into the story andknow the main theme in Dubliners better. And the symbols

3、are as follows:1. Bli ndThe North Richard Street was“blind ” , and“I ” used a blind to hide myself frombeing seen by Mangan ' s sister. These are the two“ blind ” used in the novel.The first one is an adjective, which means that the street is closed at one end. As ita bli nd street, people livi

4、ng in the street are difficult to com muni cate with the onesoutside. So it indicates the station of un-open up of Dublin as well as Ireland. But the people living in the street are all pleased with the situation. 2 So the boy wished to get away from it. This helps the plot develop.As for the second

5、“ blind ” , it is a noun. By using the blind, Mangan' s sister cosee me. However, the blind also prevented me from seeing her clearly. This indicates that the boy ' s dream was only a childish dream (Mangan' s sister; it is hard to be realized for“I” only“watched it from a blind ”.2. Man

6、gan ' s sisterMangan' s sister was the girlto whom“ I ” had paid lots of attention;“ I ” watsecretly; “I kept her brown figure always in my eye” ; and when “I ” was doing stranprayers that “ I ” didn ' t understand, her name sprang to my lips.These are all telling that Mangan' s sist

7、er is the boyidol/Batdretimi, or hiswhole novel, the girl' s name hasn ' t appeared. Why? Because what “ I ” know about mydream is only something superficial. My dream is just like the temple in the air, formingin the boy ' s mi nd without any deep thi nki ng or any deep un dersta nding.

8、“ I ” likedMangan' s sister just as I liked The Memoirs of Vidocq, a book I found in the priest remains- “I liked the last best because its leaves were yellow.”This agrees with the boy ' s age and his experienee. He was a boy on the way ofgrow ing up and forming his own views of the society.

9、 But he was still too young to havea good un dersta nding of the real world. Although we know that his dream could be easily broken, the most important thing is that he had a dream. This is also important for the Irishme n who were un der the con trol of the British gover nment the n. 3. The North R

10、ichm ond StreetThe street was bli nd. Besides, the surro undings were all un pleasa nt. My house wasfull of “ musty air ” . The houses in the street“ had grown sombre ” . When my aunt anwent marketi ng, we were“ jostled by drunken men and barga ining wome n, amidthe curse ”As James Joyce said, the m

11、ain theme of the novels in Dubliners was paralysis. Andthe condition of the North Richmond Street was a good proof for it. But in the wholeIrela nd as well, all the streets were almost the same. So Joyce turned to volun tary-exile toget rid of the un pleasa nt thing in Irela nd. So do the boy in the

12、 no vel. He had a stronghatred for the street, as is dem on strated by the sentenceful that I c(buwa seha nk(the street so little.” So the street was a symbol for the whole Ireland.4. ArabyIn the novel, the word“Araby ” plays an important role, as it is the title word. AndAraby is“ a splendid bazaar

13、 ” where Mangan ' s sister recomgiended me tAraby is an old n ame for Arab. Besides, in the no vel, it“ cast an Easter n en cha ntmt over me ” . So Araby is a place with the Oriental fragranee in Dublin. And we can also see that the boy had a strong desire to make a trip there. So we can con clu

14、de that Araby is a dream new world for the boy, as Mangan' s sister is a fairy who guild the boy there.However, it seems that the other people, especially the elder people living in thestreet paid little atte ntio n to my desire. And my un cle justcurtly ” awswnred'm”told him my plan to Arab

15、y. And he also went home too late that night to let me go to Araby on time. So this indicates again that Dubliners as well as the Irishmen were all paralyzed. They paid little atte nti on to their dreams. 3 And they were well in ten ti oned but n arrow in the views and bli nd to higher values. This

16、is what Joyce felt disappo in ted of.To our delight, my aunt in deed cared about my wish for Araby and blamed my un clefor being late. This shows that Joyce want to hold his wish for the future of Ireland. Andwhen “ I ” got a florin from my uncle,“ I ” went to Araby immediately. However on myway the

17、re, the condition seemed to be a bit unpleasant. The train was“ deserted ” ,and it had “ an in tolerable delay ” . Eve n whe n the train started“ slowly ” ,“ it creamong ruinous houses ” . These all indicate the difficulties one will confront on his way to the dream place. But anyhow at last“ I ” ar

18、rived at Araby late at night.And there is a casual dialogue between two men and a woman in the novel. Thisdialogue had no special setting or surprising ending, but it was so real that when we readthe words, we can imagi ne the sce ne in our mind. 4 But it is the dialogue, in additi onwith the other

19、thi ngs the boy met in Araby, that disappo in ted me. So this is an allusi on ofthe life of the young adults in Dublin who own the characteristic of ignorance and conven ti on alism.One the whole, the bazaar Araby in dicates that eve n whe n the Irishme n were chas ing their dream, they would be dis

20、appo in ted just because of their own society and their blind to the bright future. So Joyce became sad about the reality.5. The priestAt the beg inning of the no vel, we know that a priest had bee n a tenant of the boyhome. “ He (the priest had been a very charitable priest” , and he “ had left all

21、 his mothe institutions and the furniture of his house to his sister” . So in this way,the priest was in deed a good citize n of Dubli n.Besides, form the names of the books that“ I ” found, (The Abbot, The DevoutCommunicant and The Memoirs of Vidocq, of which one is about religio n and two are about exploration, we