Araby Context

In Heyward Ehrlich’s “‘Araby’ in Context”, he claims that James Joyce's short story "Araby" is not a tale of an biological event of Joyce's life, but rather an array of three significant external contexts, "namely the historical, the literary, and the biographical" (Joyce 261). Ehrlich utilizes these contexts to establish that Joyce's objective was to create fictional identities. By first identifying the "Araby", Ehrlich illustrated the historical facts of the actual bazaar that came to Dublin in the 1890s, also mentioning that Joyce's story contrasted to the reality of what the bazaar entitled in entertainment. By omitting the true historic facts of the event, Ehrlich claims that Joyce therefore created a fictional identity for society. Following those remarks, Ehrlich continues his argument with describing "Araby" as it also "evokes the distinctive version of Irish
He also utilizes an effective method of stating Mangan’s biographical information side by side with the main plot points of Araby to display the influence that Mangan truly had on Joyce. Moreover, as he also concentrates on the external literary influences of Irish Orientalism in Moore's Lalla Rookh it is plain how it influenced several parts of Joyce’s "Araby." The final implication of Ehrlich argument is where he makes the claim that by rejecting history, Joyce is taking reality and twisting it to make a fictional identity. Furthermore, he argues that Joyce uses unrealities because he wants to "spiritually liberate” his country. He notes that Joyce that there is much doubt to reassure readers that any of these contexts establish evidence that reflects a biography of Joyce's younger life. Ehrlich in fact concludes his argument wit stating that to this extent, "Araby" seems just another fictional identity Joyce