Human Nature/Cycles of Life and Escape and Adventure :: Essays Papers

Human Nature/Cycles of Life and Escape and Adventure Throughout the life everyone goes through cycles of events that inevitably lead them to new directions in life. It leaves one wanting to explore a life greater than what he or she has. Such cycles can include the creation of new friendships, longing for love or lust, boredom or simply wanting something more from life. In the book Dubliners by James Joyce, stories of escape and adventure are clearly evident in "Araby" and "Eveline" and "The Dead". Each story presents a desire to search for something greater in life and to leave something behind. But the idea of escaping from something or someone, or reaching a new place, is impeded by their situation [Dublin]. In the story Araby, a young man looks to embark on a new journey that with the hopes of pleasing his new found desire for romantic intimacy with a particular girl. The boy's adventure lies in going to a place called Araby to find a gift for this girl that he is trying to impress. If I go, he says, I will bring you something" (24). Joyce uses the cycle's theme in this story. At some point in time in life everyone finds some person that he or she likes and hope to impress in some way. A lot of times it happens more than once; most of the time a token of our attempt to "woo" a special someone is through gifts, usually materials, which he clearly wants to do in the story. Joyce clearly shows the boy's desire to adventure, through his willingness to impress this girl by going to a bazaar to search for her a gift and that seems to be all he can think of for quite some time; "I hardly had any patience with the serious work of life which, now that it stood between me and my desire, seemed to me child's play, ugly monotonous" (24). He also has this idea about the bazaar form hearing other people talk about it. Another cycle the boy in Araby is going through is dealing with sexuality; "All my senses seemed to desire to veil themselves and, feeling that I was about to slip them, I pressed the palms of my hands together until they trembled" (23) A bazzar is the equivalent to a modern day Mardi Gras. Joyce uses the bazaar to symbolize, exotic delights, escape, and sensuality. Joyce uses the description of the event to represent this mode; "In front of me was a large building which displayed the magical name" (26). The boy's infatuation with this girl leaves him with fantasies about the girl