Reading Journal: The Dead

Ye Ji Park / 111053 / 12v1

Mr. Garrioch

World Literature

March 26 2013

Reading Journal: The Dead

Epiphany – Finite Disappointment, but Infinite Hope

When two pennies “fall against the sixpence in [his] pocket”, the narrator of “Araby” experiences a break in his firm belief about romantic, idealistic, even holy love. Gabriel, the protagonist of Joyce’s novella “The Dead”, experiences a similar epiphany – he realizes something that he has once believed wholeheartedly is wrong.

Gabriel, an intelligent, educated gentleman, is highly respected in the society. He is “[Aunts’] favorite nephew” who carves the goose and delivers an oration at party “as usual”. Confident in other’s acclaim, Gabriel values himself as a superior person. He worries that Aunts’ party guests would not understand the lines from Robert Browning. When Miss Ivors criticizes him of writing for the Daily Express, he does not try to reject her charge, thinking that she, not one of “friends of many years’ standing … [with] careers … first at the University and then as teachers”, would not understand his counterargument. In his dinner speech, he disregards the Irish for “lingering … to the names of all those great singers of the past” and urges them to stop living in the past. Gabriel almost sounds like an enlightened pioneer who laments about ignorant crowd lingering in “sad memories” and “gloomy moralizing intrude” of the past.

But a closer look reveals that Gabriel is not that superior as he seems firsthand; Gabriel is, actually, very tenable. At the very start of the novella, when Lily angers at Gabriel’s remarks, he does not explain his original “gaily” intention but instead tries to resolve the issue superficially by thrusting a coin into her hands. Similarly, when Miss Ivors calls Gabriel a “West Briton” and denounces him for knowing nothing of his own people and own country, Gabriel retorts suddenly: “O, to tell you the truth, I’m sick of my own country, sick of it!” Although his emotion toward Ireland is not that extreme, he does not know how to logically argue himself against Miss Ivors and responds according to his spontaneous emotions. If he were really superior, he would have suppressed momentary embarrassment and refuted to Lily’s misunderstanding or Miss Ivors’ unfair accusation with clear reasoning.

At the end of the story, Gabriel goes through an epiphany that makes him realize such fault. As he heads to the hotel with his wife, Gretta, he feels a strong desire to control her, to prove that “she was his”. When he learns that Gretta is thinking of her first love, not him, Gabriel gets furious at her that he “coldly” interrogates his wife, “Perhaps that was why you wanted to go to Galway with that Ivors girl?” But as time passes, he calms down and realizes that he will never be her “master”. This is the moment of epiphany to Gabriel; he has been thinking that he was superior to others, just as he believed that he could control his wife’s thoughts and mood, and then realizes that he actually cannot.

§

If the narrator of “Araby” experiences the break of his innocent notion about love, and Gabriel experiences the break of his superiority, I experienced the break of belief about formality. 

When I was young, I defined myself as a liberal, form-unrestrained person. I scorned ceremonies, from ordinary morning assembly to grand events such as Entrance or Graduation ceremony, thinking that all those lengthy conventions were waste of time and energy. I believed that what mattered was essence, and only if the core message is delivered clearly, the means of conveyance did not matter. I, maybe, looked down on adults who seemed to pay so much attention on strict procedures. And I used to make small rebels toward such formalities; I often stayed silent while others sing National Anthem, let the words of speakers flow out my ear, and sometimes ran away in the middle of ceremonies.

My epiphany took place two weeks before, when a junior made a speech at the morning assembly. He attempted to raise questions about how the school is administered, but was stopped before finishing his words by teachers who judged that the speech was being practiced in improper place and time. From a “liberalistic” perspective, the student’s act was something to be praised and the teacher’s act to be blamed; anyway, the student tried to deliver his message to teachers and students, although he did not keep some formalities. But what I felt at that moment was totally different. I almost panicked over the situation, and felt strong need to stop the student’s words before the situation grows serious.

At that moment, I realized that there were moments that formality is needed. Almost every students and teachers there were not expecting such a speech that raises somewhat abrupt and blunt questions. A proper procedure – maybe a beforehand implication of what he is going to do – would have helped that junior be a little more successful with his speech.

We all know that admitting the faulty of some claim that one has strongly believed once is not very pleasurable. Still, it is definite that epiphany widens the range of the world we can see – as the narrator in “Araby” realizes that not only pure love exists in the world, as Gabriel understands his un-superiority, and as I recognizes the significance of formality. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” So let us accept finite disappointment at the moment of epiphany, but never lose infinite hope that these epiphanies will, at last, help us gain a better view of the world. 

Reading Journal (Paragraph): Araby

First Draft (499 words):

From a distance, James Joyce's "Araby" might appear as a simple formation novel about a boy who realizes harsh reality and loses his innocence. After all, when the nameless narrator goes through his journey to Araby, he learns that his precious “sixpence” is too little to buy anything, and confronts a flirting woman who breaks his fantasy about love. Readers, at first gaze, observe this novel is a Bildungsroman. However, on the other hand, Joyce's "Araby" is not just another common Bildungsroman because it closely describes its setting, contemporary Ireland, in detail. James Joyce is an Irish writer, and in his days, Ireland was largely acknowledged as a subservient nation to Britain, ignorant and vulgar. Joyce believed that Catholic Church was one factor that stopped Ireland's emancipation and development by denouncing rebellions and excommunicating those who rebelled. Because of the Church, Joyce claimed, Ireland reached a state of cultural paralysis in which people fail to move forward and stuck in place. In other words, even when the Church lost its original purpose of faith and politically deteriorated, Irish, who already had been paralyzed by the Church, stopped to rebel and kept meaningless faith. This reality is portrayed in "Araby" here and there; the former tenant of narrator's house, "a priest", who had been “very charitable" and academically erudite as "a few paper-covered books, the pages of which were curled and damp" indicates, is dead. This shows that the original intention of the church - benevolent and academically influential - is gone now. Still, Irish meaninglessly believe in the Church, just as the aunt hopes that Araby is not some “Freemason affairs” and old Mrs. Mercer collects stamps for “some pious purpose”. Even the narrator likens Mangan's sister to a religious concept ("chalice") whose name "sprang to [his] lips at moments in strange prayers". Joyce criticizes such tendency of unconditional religious belief by describing the reality is not holy, sacred, nor noble at all - "dusk fell" down the "blind" street "jostled by drunken men and bargaining women", the uncle is drunk and "had forgotten" about his niece's romantic plan, and train to Araby is "deserted". At the last part of the story, the narrator "allow[s] the two pennies to fall against the sixpence in [his] pocket", which was precious money to buy present for his lover, and this act shows that the narrator admits the breakdown of his romantic, idealistic, even holy love. All these gloomy descriptions and dark conclusion Joyce employed, which do not fit to the image of sacred, honorable, noble religion at all but rather contradict it, are in accordance with contemporary Ireland, where Catholicism was ubiquitous but meaningless. Therefore, it is perhaps more accurate to assume that "Araby" is not a mere Bildungsroman, but a more deepened story that effectively uses details to reflect Ireland. In this sense, Joyce is a great writer who does not only catch an individual's epiphany but also understand the world he lives in and reflect it in his story.

Comments:

Those who commented on my first draft liked how I “put in the background of Joyce’s time and tried to link that” with the whole plot. (Nuri) However, they pointed out that this was “too long” and that I should shorten “my introduction and conclusion because they are a bit too repetitive in their ideas” (Jane) and “the historical summary” because “most people who read anything about Joyce won’t need the historical stuff” (Mr. Garrioch). Also, some pointed out that I was being too “radical” (Flora) with my claims, so that I should use a bit more careful words. Accepting those comments, I tried to 1) clean up my introduction, 2) summarize the historical context in one sentence, and 3) use careful diction such as “seem” or “somewhat”. 

Some students gave me additional details to add on my essay (“Another aspect … related to religion in “Araby” is when the boy depicts the girl as a “white” figure … [with] a halo” (Nuri)), and I tried to add these in second draft, but the paragraph got too long again. Maybe I’ll write a longer essay about “Araby” so that I can explain further about history of Ireland and add more details that substantiate my thesis. (:

Second Draft (413 words):

From a distance, James Joyce's "Araby" might appear as a simple coming-of-age story about a boy who realizes harsh reality and loses his innocence. After all, when the nameless narrator arrives at Araby and encounters a young female clerk flirting with two men, he is disenchanted with his idealistic view on love. However, on the other hand, Joyce's "Araby" is not just another common Bildungsroman because it closely depicts contemporary Ireland, its setting, in detail. Joyce believed that the Catholic Church disturbed Ireland’s cultural development and emancipation from England by denouncing rebellions, and asserted that continued suppression paralyzed Irish to keep meaningless faith even after the Church lost its original purpose of faith and exercised political leverage. The troubled civil and religious history of Ireland is portrayed in "Araby" here and there. The former tenant of the narrator's house, "a priest", was "very charitable" and academically erudite as "a few paper-covered books, the pages of which were curled and damp" indicate. But the priest is dead. This shows that the original intention of the church - benevolent and academically influential - is gradually fading. Still, many Irish, and especially those on North Richmond Street, seem to believe meaninglessly in the Church. The aunt hopes that Araby is not some “Freemason affair” and old Mrs. Mercer collects stamps for “some pious purpose”. Even the narrator likens Mangan's sister to a religious concept ("chalice") whose name "sprang to [his] lips at moments in strange prayers." Joyce criticizes unconditional religious belief by illustrating that reality is not always holy, sacred, or noble - "dusk fell" down the "blind" street "jostled by drunken men and bargaining women", the uncle is drunk and "had forgotten" about his niece's romantic plan, and train to Araby is "deserted". At the last part of the story, the narrator allows his precious two pennies that he planned to use to buy a present for his lover to "fall against the sixpence in [his] pocket"; this act shows that the narrator admits the breakdown of his romantic, idealistic, even holy love. Through all these gloomy descriptions that Joyce employed, we can see how contemporary religious Ireland is criticized for its delusions. Therefore, it is perhaps more accurate to assume that "Araby" is not a mere Bildungsroman, but a profound story that reflects Joyce’s somewhat negative perspective toward contemporary Ireland. In this sense, Joyce is a great writer who does not only catch an individual's epiphany, but also understands the world he lives in.