Wednesday 19 December 2012

In James Joyce's "Araby," why are some characters unnamed?

I would
argue that Mangan's sister is unnamed because she represents an ideal object of the boy's love,
and as such, is unattainable. His love for her is just a pipe dream, a boyish fantasy which
never had the remotest chance of becoming real. She sends him off on a fool's errand to the
bazaar, which itself perfectly epitomizes the unreal world the boy has been inhabiting. If
Mangan's sister were given a name, then that would give his amorous feelings a specific object,
something tangible and real. But his boyish infatuation has no object as such. Instead it is
caught up in a general desire to escape from the restrictions and frustrations of a life that is
impoverished, both materially and emotionally. The lack of a name or any specific object for
these turbulent emotions, means that they have nowhere to go, and so the frustration
continues.

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