Araby, By James Joyce

Various authors use different narrative techniques in order to express their ideas in the plot and characterization of their story. “Araby” by James Joyce is the story of a boy, who is desperate to find a sense of love and affection, so he promises to get Mangan’s sister something from a bazaar known as Araby. However, he fails to accomplish his task and leaves filled with anger and disappointment. “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell is the story of how a British police officer, who secretly supports the Burmese, is forced to shoot an elephant to ensure that he is not embarrassed in front of those he is guarding. These works are two examples of texts that use narrative techniques to enrich the events described in the story. Each
The narrative perspective of this short story is the first person point of view. We know this because of the use of I throughout the story. The first person point of view offers a better understanding of the text because we are able to see the thoughts and feelings of each situation the character goes through, enabling the writer to better develop the character and the audience to go through the character’s experiences as if it were their own. To begin the story, the narrator indirectly references himself through the descriptions of his neighborhood. For example, the narrator says, “An uninhabited house of two storeys stood at the blind end, detached from its neighbours in a square ground.” (paragraph 2) This could be an indirect description of himself because, at times, he could feel empty, untouched, and isolated from everything. In addition, the repeated reference to “being blind” (1) could describe the boy being blind from the desire to be loved and the desire to have an adventure. These indirect references allow the audience to gain a better understanding of the boy and his
A narrative technique used as a way to offer a better understanding of the text is imagery. For instance, “Air, musty from having been long enclosed, hung in all the rooms, and the waste room behind the kitchen was littered with old useless papers.” (2) This allows the audience to picture what the house had been like after no one had lived there for some time. Another example would be “the cold air stung us and we played till our bodies glowed” (3) as it relates to the reader’s senses of touch and sight. Personification allows readers to better understand what life in the boy’s neighborhood is really like. For example, “The other houses of the street, conscious of decent lives within them, gazed at one another with brown imperturbable faces.” (1) The houses cannot be conscious of what is happening around them nor do they have faces. Lastly, a narrative technique that is used is irony, which can be seen when the narrator states,“very charitable priest.” (2) This is because the priest is described as generous but only does so for the public to see. He did not leave anything to support his family, the people who may have needed it the most. (2) This allows the reader to remain interested in the