James Joyce, "Araby" and "Eveline"

Discussion Questions

Find textual evidence for every argument.

"Araby"

1. The story is told by an older narrator remembering his younger self. Where do we detect the voice of the mature narrator breaking through? How does this double perspective shape our reading of the boy's romantic quest?

2. The boy imagines carrying a "chalice" through hostile crowds in the market and turns Mangan's sister into an object of religious devotion, like in a hero's quest. What does this confusion of spiritual and sexual awakening reveal about Dublin's Catholic culture? Consider the dead priest's library in this context.

3. Araby the bazaar promises Eastern enchantment but is a disappointment. How does Joyce construct this anticlimax? What exactly does the boy realize when he sees himself as "a creature driven and derided by vanity"?

4. From the "blind" street to the dark bazaar where his eyes burn with "anguish and anger": trace the imagery of sight and blindness and light and darkness. Why is Mangan's sister always glimpsed in fragments or silhouettes?

"Eveline"

1. Joyce employs free indirect discourse to give us access to Eveline's consciousness while maintaining narrative distance. How does this technique allow us to simultaneously sympathize with and critique Eveline's paralysis? Identify moments where the narrative voice seems to merge with or separate from Eveline's thoughts. What is the effect of the shift to objective narration in the final dock scene?

2. Dust pervades Eveline's world and memories. How does this connect to her mother's dying words and her promise to "keep the home together"? What kind of life do Dublin women inherit?

3. Eveline constructs two opposing narratives: the familiar suffering of home versus the uncertain promise of Buenos Aires with Frank. How does Joyce complicate any simple reading of Frank as either savior or seducer? Analyze how Eveline's memories shift and contradict themselves. What role does her inability to construct a coherent narrative of her own life play in her final paralysis?

4. The story moves from dusty interior to open sea, a journey Eveline cannot complete. What transforms her at the barrier? Why does she show Frank "no sign of love or farewell or recognition"?