Day: August 28, 2023

Introduction to “Araby” by James Joyce as Modernist Story

Before the publication of “Araby” by James Joyce, the British modernist movement emerged between WWI and WWII. New ideas, norms, and traditions were set in literature. The Industrial Revolution, evolution in economic ideas, and new social theories led the writers to write on new patterns. The disillusionment of the wars, massacres, and senseless killings led the writers to explore human nature further because the old styles failed to express their grief, complications, and apprehensions (Rachel 2012). The theater of Absurd and existentialism gave new dimensions to literature. “Araby” by James Joyce demonstrates the transformation modernism brought such as the use of the stream of consciousness technique along with an ambiguous critique of the religious ideas and melting down of social customs.

Stream of Consciousness in “Araby” by James Joyce

The use of the stream of consciousness technique was the first characteristic intended to record the thoughts of the narrator. The nameless boy in “Araby” by James Joyce, tells his story in first person, but mostly this comprises his inner thoughts. The boy narrates the ordeal he faces in his mind. His inner thinking leads him to his epiphanic moment of promising his imagined beloved to bring something from Araby for her but ultimately it proves a failure. His infatuation “When she came out on the doorstep my heart leaped” (Araby 345) shows his use of the first person. This type of technique was creeping imperceptibly into narrations during those times when James Joyce wrote this story. He continues thinking about her until the story ends where he is standing and “remembering with difficulty why I had come” (356). It is through his own narration that the readers know his ordeal, his mental conflicts, and his disillusionment of love which has found its way into his narration (Norris 2003).

Transformation in Religious Ideas in “Araby” by James Joyce

During the writing of this story, the Roman Catholic was ruling the roost in Ireland. The modernist movement challenged trite and tested ideas of religion, which Joyce ambivalently expresses in this story. The different references in “Araby” by James Joyce such as that “Christian Brother’s School” (Joyce 347) in “Araby” are actually an expression of the attitude toward the prevalent religious faith. Mentioning the priest, finding books of the priest at the home, and the boy’s own reference of saving the “chalice” (348) are enough to show that religious dogmas are in the very soul of the boy. Yet, he wants to break up these shackles as he keeps “The Abbot by Walter Scott, The Devout Communicant and The Memories of Vidosq” (348), a modern book according to the standards of those times. The boy’s reference to a hero who “bore my chalice safely” (348) is not a Christian allusion, but a pagan one.

Transformation in Social Norms in “Araby” by James Joyce

The modernist movement also challenged the accepted social norms and turned them upside down even before “Araby” by James Joyce was written. The first sign of this is the boy’s falling in love with the girl who is a bit older. She succeeds in dominating the boy’s senses and holds him in her romantic grip as he imagines her “The life from the lamp opposite to our door caught the white curve of her neck” which seems to him something that arouses his senses (351). This is the exploitation of male sexuality that she attracts him and brings him to the point of a promise he does materialize, and gets frustrated.

Conclusion

These examples show that Joyce was affected by the onslaught of modernism and became a tool to start British modernism through his writings. Ulysses came out much later but before that “Araby” clearly shows his inclination toward the modernist movement. His ambivalent attitude toward religion, his narrative technique, and his allusions demonstrate it in “Araby” which is not the first representative story of this movement.

Works Cited

1. Joyce, James. “Araby.” Edgar V. Roberts, & Robert Zweig. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, 10/E . New York: Longman, 2012. 348-362.
2. Norris, Margot. Suspicious Readings of Joyce’s Dubliners. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania, 2003. Print.
3. Potter, Rachel. Modernist Literature. Edinburgh University Press. 2012. Print.

Relevant Questions

1. How does James Joyce use the concept of epiphany in “Araby” to exemplify a key characteristic of modernist literature, and what is the significance of the protagonist’s epiphany in the story?
2. “Araby” is often seen as a prime example of the modernist emphasis on the interior world of characters. How does the narrative perspective and the protagonist’s inner thoughts and emotions contribute to this aspect of modernism in the story?
3. In “Araby,” the mundane and the symbolic are juxtaposed throughout the narrative. How does this interplay between the ordinary and the symbolic reflect the modernist fascination with the subconscious and the exploration of deeper, hidden meanings in everyday life?

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Introduction to “Everyday Use” and “The Man Who Was Almost a Man”

“Everyday Use” and “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” show themes of racial discrimination, African-American conditions and different narratives. During the first and second half of the 20^th century, there were several African- American writers, who achieved great names in American literature and Richard Wright was among them, though Alice Walker was not in the limelight at that time as she was born in the half of the 20^th century. Richard Wright has mostly written about male characters, being male, but Alice Walker has not only touched on female sexuality but also commented on black feminism, avoiding commenting on the male and propagating female independence. Called the father of African-American literature, Richard Wright was deeply aware of the cultural shortcomings that his compatriots faced in the United States and their ultimate failure. He was also proud of his success but at the same time, he created protagonists who could not succeed as African Americans like Dave in his famous story “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” because he tries to show his manliness in a different way (Rayson). However, Alice Walker, though, came when Richard Wright was long dead, created stories of female sexuality and female independence that she has been hailed as a predecessor of the famous Zora Neal Hurston. Yet she has not created such powerful stories. In fact, she came at a time when African Americans were struggling for their identities and she moved it further. David White is right in saying that “She uses the principal characters of Mama, Dee (Wangero), and Maggie to clarify this theme” (White). However, her characters are very strong like the mother in “Everyday Use.” “Everyday Use” and “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” are similar in their themes of racial discrimination against African Americans, and their poor living conditions but different in narrative techniques and protagonists.

Racial Discrimination in “Everyday Use” and “The Man Who Was Almost a Man”

The theme of racial discrimination runs deep in both stories. Dave is after a gun from Joe’s store because he daily faces insults. That is why he wants to have a gun so that they “could not talk … a little boy” and he wishes that “a man oughta to hava little gun aftah he done worked hard all day” (Wright 682). Then Joe makes Dave realize that he is a boy and he does not need a gun, but African American slaves do not understand that they are not even considered sane. Therefore, this is his desire that he should be counted as a man, and he buys a gun that he accidentally kills Jenny with and is fined to pay for that. Although his father is with him and he does not interfere except when necessary, he just used to look “at his father uneasily” when he is with his mother pleading to have money for the gun. He comes to know this at the end when he learns that he would have to pay two dollars a month for two years over which he utters his usual “Shucks! Ah’ll be dam!” (689). However, this is not very much clear in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker because she supports feminism instead of racial bias though it is present all around in the story.  The mom in the story tells that she is a “large, big boned woman” (Walker 524) that could be only an African American woman. She then tells about her education that when she left school in 1927, “colored asked fewer questions” which shows that at that time they did not have the right to question (528). They were segregated and set apart from other people but now the situation has changed and she can earn on her own though their living conditions have not improved very much.

Poor Living Conditions in “Everyday Use” and “The Man Who Was Almost a Man”

They used to live in very poor conditions. The mother in “Everyday Use” is very clear about the description of the house which shows their financial condition. She, with her disabled daughter Maggie, has cleaned the yard which is “an extended living room” because this is their entire home where they are living. She says that it is made up of hard clay and when it is “swept clean” it becomes comfortable for a person to sit (524). It is not only the condition of the house but also the condition of the things which is showing that they are very poor and it is only because they are African Americans. Although there are three rooms, only the roof is made of tin. There are a few trunks full of quilts and pillows she has prepared for Maggie that Dee wants to get but she refuses because Maggie needs them for everyday use. However, it is clear in Richard Right in the very beginning when Dave tells everything about him and how he works in the fields and gets enough to save for a day. This is also clear from the broken and pidgin English African Americans used to speak. His job is to plow in the fields of Hawkins whose mule he killed when trying to fire his pistol and becomes a slave to earn two dollars each month. His obsession with guns shows it clearly that he tries to hide it at home but could not. This is the situation of a slave that in the end his father and mother make him confess to pay the fine to get rid of it.

Narrative Techniques in “Everyday Use” and “The Man Who Was Almost a Man”

Both stories, however, differ in their narrative techniques. The story of Dave in “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” is told in the third person pronoun. The narrator is some omniscient person who sees him above how he lives, acts, and narrates his entire routine. Dave, the teenager is fed up with being called a little boy. He wants to show the people that he is a man and tells his mother that he is going to purchase a gun. The story takes place in conversation but then is told in the third person where some detail is required such as “Dave looked at the floor” and so on (687). There is no first person until the end when Dave leaves the village so that “he could be a man” (689). However, “Everyday Use” is in the first person. The mother of Dee and Maggie tells her own version of the story, inserting her biography here and there to show how careful and independent she is. In fact, this first-person choice on the part of Alice Walker is the demonstration of the assertion of female independence. This is a sort of assertion of a self-respected woman who is proud to have a daughter like Dee but she is also very careful to take care of her disabled daughter. The first-person narrative suits such a character that asserts their self-made personality as she is very open when she says that “I can kill” a hunt and clean it, too (526). This shows she is very strong and brave like men — the reason that she has been able to raise two kids even when she was alone. It means that both authors have put different characters in different circumstances to show different shades of African American community.

African-American Community in “Everyday Use” and “The Man Who Was Almost a Man”

These protagonists show that whereas men of the African American community were naturally irresponsible during childhood, women were very responsible and self-assertive in that they had to take care of their children like all protective mothers. The self-assertion of the mother is very much obvious in the sixth to the seventh paragraph where the mother compares herself with men in strength and makeup. She is proud of herself that she has brought up Dee, an educated girl and that she has taken care of her disabled daughter.  Whatever the mother, Mrs. Johnson does and does not do reflects the situation and culture she is living in as it states that she can kill “a hog” (526) which shows that she is habitual of doing this in the male-dominated society (Velazquez). However, in the case of Richard Wright, the protagonist is Dave who wants to assert in these circumstances that he is a man and he knows how to fire a gun. In fact,  he is fed up with the little wages he earns because he is considered a boy. He wants to show them — the owner Hawkins that he is not a child, but a grown-up man. However, in this conflict, he commits the mistake of killing Jenny and is trapped in the loan of paying that amount in two years. This shows that the men’s role in African American community is that of irresponsible idiots since childhood — the reason that they are always caught up in debt in one or the other way. Therefore, Richard Wright has shown a mirror to his community that until men are irresponsible and irrational, Mrs. Johnson like characters, asserts Walker, would continue to bring up their children where there is nobody to take care of them.

Conclusion

Concluding the essay, it could be stated that whereas one story is about Mrs. Johnson, an independent widow, her female independence and her male-like bravery and strength, the other is about a teenager who shows his irresponsible attitude and behavior since childhood and leaves home to prove himself a man. His struggle ends only when he leaves home which is the end of the men in African American community. The techniques also support this theory because Mrs. Johnson states her story in first person narrative, while the third person narrative shows a sort of indifferent attitude as Dave does not share with his father what he needs. Rather, there is another mother engaged in teaching her son the skills of survival though he proves like his father and takes more debt instead of earning. Therefore, both stories show a different angle of the lives of the African American community though there are some similarities in that the characters are shown living in squalor and dirty conditions as they used to live. There are also some similarities in their self-assertion where one is asserting her motherhood by raising children while the other is asserting his manhood by firing the pistol. 

Works Cited

• Rayson, Ann. “Richard Wright’s Life.” Illinois University. n. d. Web. Accessed 09 Aug.2023.
• Velazquez, Juan R. “Characterization and Symbolism in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use.” Lone Star College. n. d. Web. 09 Aug. 2023.
• Wright, Richard. “The Man Who Was Almost a Man.” Charters, Anne. The Story and Its Writer. New York: Bedford /St. Martins, 2014. 682-689
• White, David. “Everyday Use”: Defining African-American Heritage.”Luminarium. 2001. Accessed 09 Aug.2023.
• Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” Charters, Anne. The Story and Its Writer. New York: Bedford /St. Martins, 2014. 452-465.

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Introduction to Feminism in “Sweat” and “Everyday Use”

The sense of awakening among African Americans emerged after the Harlem Renaissance but it was slow and gradual though it first entered the realm of story writing and fiction and before creeping into the public psyche. Alice Walker and Zora Neal Hurston are two popular female African American voices, who have given a different shape to story writing with African American female experience and collective consciousness. In their stories, they have presented black African American female characters in such a way that they become independent by the end of the stories not only in their thinking like mom but also in their actions like Delia Jones of “Sweat.” Such developments give them an edge over their males and so-called African American male chauvinism although the female body has also become merely an object for sexual appeal and pleasure (Collins 77). Also, both have selected racial discrimination as the major theme for their stories, the reason that their approach is toward feminism or better to say toward the uplift of black sexuality or African American women. It is because both have presented characters, which not only lead to their own independence but also their better thinking and pragmatic approach to life. Zora’s Skyes tells it clearly to Delia, “You sho is one aggravatin’ n****r woman” (Hurston 241) and Zora knows that this n****r woman should be independent to ward off the torture of Sykes, while mom knows that she is a “big-boned woman with rough … hands” (Walker 358). But Maggie should not be dependent on anybody, though Dee has won over the circumstances. Therefore, Zora Neal Hurston and Alice Walker in their respective stories “Sweat” and “Everyday Use” are not the only proponents of female independence, but also demonstrate the decline of male domination and women’s pragmatic approach toward life and their siblings.

Feminism: Women’s Independence in “Sweat” and “Everyday Use”

Not only Alice Walker but also Zora Neal Hurston has presented female characters who are either independent, or vie for independence, or at least try their best and win their independence disregarding the fact that they wait and see the male members getting killed in this connection. The mother in “Everyday Use” knows that her educated daughter Dee is successful, while disabled Maggie is not because Dee “had a style of her own” (360). However, Maggie was dependent on her, and she knew the pains of having no independence. This happens in the absence of a male member of the family. Even Dee is aware of this as she tells Maggie at the end, “You out to try” which means independence that she is asking her about (364). However, in Zora Neal Hurston, it is Delia Jones who stays under male domination for quite a long time and suffers torture and cruelty at the hands of her husband, Sykes. He used to terrify her and in this attempt was “almost rolled on the ground in his mirth” though he used to do nothing (241). Yet when the time comes, “she saw him on his hands and knees” (251). It was time for her to become independent and she knew that the “cold river was creeping up” (251). This is independence from the torture and suffering that she must go through for a long. As a student, Rachel Carazo has stated in her paper that this is “independence [of Delia], but only by assuming a male-oriented stance” (Carazo). It means that she has transformed her role to win independence.

Feminism and Patriarchy in “Sweat” and “Everyday Use”

Male domination and male chauvinism in both stories are either absent or on the decline. In the case of Delia Jones in “Sweat,” Sykes does what he can to roll “on the ground in his mirth” (241) but it gradually declines as he does not perform his essential role of a breadwinner. He merely makes fun of Delia whatever she does to earn her living. That is why in the end when a rattlesnake he brings for Delia bites him, she merely looks at him and does nothing. She even does not support him when he “crept an inch or two” (248) which means that his male domination is now going to end. Whereas Mom and Maggie are concerned, they have no male in the family. She has done whatever she can to educate Dee and support Maggie. There is a male member Hakmi-e-Barbar, but he is associated with Dee and money, not Maggie and mom. It means that male domination and male chauvinism are absent in the story. Alice Walker has made African Americans independent without male domination about which she is of the view that they are on the decline, or perhaps they have lost their sense of responsibility toward the female of the family. However, it does not mean that women hate male domination, or male presence. In fact, they love it as mom mentions their Uncle Buddy, Henry, and their Grandfather Jarrell as they have preserved their relics “Great Grandpa Ezra’s uniform that he wore in the Civil War” but it is just to the point of preservation (361).

Practical Femininity in “Sweat” and “Everyday Use”

Women of Alice Walker and Zora Neal Hurston in “Everyday Use” and “Sweat” are not only pragmatic but also brave and bold. Delia Jones suffers as long as she could bear. The only problem with her is that she has no man at home with her. That is why Sykes is the only male person at home. However, when he crosses all the limits and makes her a butt of his barbaric jokes, she ignores him though she does not kill him. But it is all the same enough for him. The same is the case of mom. She knows that Dee is beautiful and stylish, and she can have her own life. However, the issue is Maggie who cannot walk without her help. She is not as smart as Dee. Therefore, when at the end, Dee asks her to have quilts as they seem to be symbols of heritage, she turns to Maggie and states that it is for her. That is why mom states that I “hugged Maggie” and then puts everything in “Maggie’s lap” (361) — a way that she shows her displeasure at the treatment of her daughter. This is her pragmatism. She knows that Dee has succeeded in her life, but Maggie depends on her because there is no male member in her home to support them.

Conclusion of “Sweat” and “Everyday Use”

In short, Zora Neal Hurston and Alice Walker have given a good picture of African American women. In her story “Sweat,” Zora Neal Hurston has presented Sykes to show how irresponsible and cruel black men are towards their own men. Therefore, women of the African American race not only suffer from racial discrimination but also from their own men. Therefore, both Alice Walker and Zora Neal Hurston have presented their female characters wishing to be independent and touchy about their siblings while removing male domination to assert their own feminism in their respective stories “Sweat” and “Everyday Use.”

Works Cited

1. Collins, Patricia Hill. Black Sexual Politics. Rutledge, New  York. 2009. Print.
2. Cazaro, Rachel. “Feminism Through Religion in Hurston’s “Sweat.” African African. African. n. d. Web. 06 Aug. 2023.
3. Hurston, Zora Neal. “Sweat” Charters, Anne. The Story and Its Writer. New York: Bedford /St. Martins, 2014. 241-251
4. Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use” Charters, Anne. The Story and Its Writer. New York: Bedford /St. Martins, 2014. 358-362