In classic literature, there can be many subtle messages the reader misses. Authors are often notorious for inserting messages into their writing like this. Metaphors and other hidden meanings give the writing more weight and depth. “Araby” and “The Dead” from James Joyces’ Dubiners and Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse are no exception. They appear blatantly clear on the surface, but upon closer examination, they reveal issues of the mundane, the power hungry, and painful growth.
James Joyces’ “Araby,” the narrator becomes infatuated with a young girl only known as Mangan’s sister. He watches her every day. Eventually the two speak, and she asks the boy if he plans to go to the Dublin Bazaar; she cannot go, so Araby offers to bring something back for her. The agreement immediately sets the narrator at odds with his own plans, as he must wait for his uncle to return with fair for the train. School is also agonizing for him. His uncle returns late and the bazaar is closing as the narrator arrives. He leaves, giving up on the bazaar and love. To the reader this is it, but there is more. For example, we are never given any specifics about the characters other than the narrator, his uncle, and Mangan’s sister. They do not have names and, therefore, remain mundane. The closing of the bazaar, as well as the narrator’s treatment once he arrives there is indicative of how he begins to view love. The woman at the only open stall approaches him, “The tone of her voice was not encouraging; she seemed to have spoken to me out of a sense of duty.” As he sees the bazaar is not filled with splendor, his idea of love begins to deflate as well. All of the mundane tasks, like school and waiting for his uncle, also become equated with the idea of love, as he views it a trivial thing, gives up, and leaves.
There are also many things to miss in Joyce’s “The Dead.” The main character, Gabriel, appears to be a man of means, who commands control wherever he goes. This is clearly a mistake however, when his first brush with a servant girl ends with him flustered, and handing her money to end the conversation, "’O Lily," he said, thrusting it into her hands, "it's Christmastime, isn't it? Just here's a little’." One would believe him more congenial, but Gabriel’s primary goal is to control his surroundings. If it was not clear with the servant girl, it is clear later with his wife. As they prepare to leave the party, she wistfully listens to music and he lusts after her, nostalgically remembering their courtship. When Gabriel has trouble wooing his wife, he is furious: “He was trembling now with annoyance. Why did she seem so abstracted?.” Eventually he learns of her former lover and, though it pains him, he realizes that this man died for his wife before he even knew her. He also realizes men like that, who live openly and freely, will live more than he ever will.
In sum, Joyce and Woolf are complex writers. They have many hidden messages in their stories, though the writing is ornate and beautiful. “Araby” is about the message of routine, while “The Dead” is about power and being kind. To the Lighthouse is about the painful experience of growth. On the surface, these stories appear to be simple, and sometimes ordinary, but upon closer analysis, they are much more than that.
References
Joyce, James. Dubliners. Chicago: Prestwick House Inc. , 2006. Book.
Woolf, Virginia. To the Lighthouse. Sacramento: Aziloth Books, 2010. Book.
