Question

What is the symbolic meaning of the relationship between light and dark in the story in the Araby

Answer 1

Answer:

Light represents hope, imagination, unrealistic ideas, and the illusion of the narrator, while darkness represents reality, the true nature of things, and despair of the narrator.

Explanation:

The short story "Araby" by James Joyce is a coming-of-age story of a young unnamed narrator who has fantasized a lot about a girl and also about everything that is outside of his reach. This story delves into the theme of imagination vs. reality, where the narrator's wild imagination contrasted greatly with the true nature of the real world.

Symbolism is one style that Joyce used in his short story. He presents the image of light and dark to signify two very different things, as is evident. He uses light to show the illusion, unrealistic ideas, and hope that the narrator has for the much older girl. Darkness, in return, represents the failure, the despair, the reality, and the true nature of the narrator's predicament.  

Answer 2

Exact Answer:

Light and dark imagery pervade this story. At the beginning, we learn that the narrator's street has "dark muddy lanes" and "dark dripping gardens." His own street is "blind," as if it were also in the dark, even though “blind” also means that the street is a dead-end. These elements of darkness suggest the narrator's lack of awareness, as well as the blindness that exists in his own community.

Light is associated with Mangan's sister, the narrator's love interest, whom he knows mostly through observing her from his house and whose beauty intrigues him. He sees her figure by way of "the light from the half-opened door." The bazaar is also associated with light when the narrator is looking forward to it. Later, though, because he arrives at the bazaar late, he finds the hall with closed stalls and "in darkness."

Joyce uses light and dark to develop the theme of harboring false hopes and having them exposed. The narrator builds the expectation that Mangan’s sister and the trip to the bazaar will lift him from his drab existence. When he arrives at the bazaar, his dreams are shattered by the shabbiness of the place. The darkening hall symbolizes the narrator’s realization that his dream was an illusion.