Araby Essays - Araby, Boy, Veld, , Term Papers

Araby And Sunrise On Veld Awareness "Araby" by James Joyce and "A Sunrise On The Veld" by Doris Lessing are both short stories in which the protagonists gained a consciousness that was beyond themselves. The main characters are both initiated into new realities and truths of which they were not previously aware. Both short stories will be examined with reflections according to the type of initiation that was experienced, the nature of the narrators, the similar and dissimilar aspects of both characters and various components of the short stories. In the two stories, both characters were experiencing an initiation or awareness of new actualities that were outside of themselves. The main characters both painfully learned that this initiation was beyond their control. It was impossible for them to ignore the new realities, which they both came to understand. The new found awareness was so powerful that it changed each boy's entire outlook and they both began to see the world through new eyes. The type of initiation both characters had was a distressing journey from innocence to knowledge and experience. The two narrators had different attitudes and reactions to the initiation experience. In Araby, the reader learns of the boy's initiation in the final sentence: "Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger." 1 The character had a negative reaction to his new awareness. His realization caused him to have feelings of shame, anguish, and anger. He was possessed and controlled by his passion for Mangan's older sister. His ideals of the girl were not realistic but were futile and vain. The girl drew out feelings in him and he discovered that feelings must be reciprocated and the downsides that love can be painful. He had a difficult time accepting his own weakness. He was in distress because he had stopped for a moment and gazed up into the darkness and realized that his previous feelings were wonderful but the only reality existed in his feelings. It had no existence beyond how he felt and the understanding of this was painful for the character. The protagonist of A Sunrise On The Veld was more accepting towards his experience of initiation than that of the character in Araby. The boy's attitude was stoical: "...this is how life goes one, by living things dying in anguish." 2 His feelings were of acceptance. In the beginning, the boy felt in control of himself in every way, and came to feel in control of the world in which he lived. This attitude changed completely after his encounter with the dying buck. He accepted the fact that there was nothing he could do to help and that some things were not in his power and were beyond his ability to control. He came to an awareness of his own limitations and accepted the inevitable. The character suffered however and felt anger, but also he was satisfied with what he realized about the cruelty of nature and life. There were several similarities and differences between the central characters. The two protagonists were both male and were young in age. Each was overcome and enthusiastic towards their feelings of delight and became aware of the negative side to joy. The boys were imaginative and romantic about their individual passions. They were both prompted by something or someone outside of themselves. The characters held an appreciation for beauty. The type of beauty the boys appreciated differed. The character in Araby felt emotional about a human being and the boy in A Sunrise On The Veld felt a love for nature. Both characters experienced an impatience and eagerness towards their obsessions. The boy in Araby could not wait to visit the bazaar, as the boy in A Sunrise On The Veld was eager to wake up and go into the vast fields of nature. One character was overcome by the morning, the nature and was exhilarated to be a part of it all. Similarly, the boy in Araby had the same feeling, however he was falling in love with a girl. One had a connection with nature and the other felt a connection with a person. They felt a oneness with the object of their love. They tried to breakdown the boundaries of their isolation. Both passions brought them out of their aloneness and loneliness. A difference in characters was that the boy in Araby was passive, inactive, and reflective about his passion. The focus was on himself and how he felt about