It was the first sunny day for us in Dublin. After we went to the James Joyce Museum, Dr. McCay gave us all a map of Dublin so we could explore the locations Joyce use for his settings in his book Dubliners. Nervous and somewhat confused, we all looked at maps to plot our routes. Of all the locations, North Richmond Street stood out to me most. North Richmond is the street that "Araby" takes place; so off to Araby I went.
North Richmond Street was small and bleak lined with cars and townhouses on each side. Each house was a slightly different color, and all the doors were very bright. There was also a small vehicle repair shop detached from the houses. Across from the repair shop, there was the Edmund Rice House that was under construction. Farther down, the little street came to an end with a two story red brick house that stood apart from all the other houses. It had a blue door, five windows, a chimney, and looked very much occupied. There was also a school nearby called "O' Connell School." This was a very quiet street with only a few people moving around outside.
James Joyce painted a similar picture of North Richmond Street. The only differences are that the vehicle repair shop was not there, he left out the Edmund Rice House, the school back then was called "Christian Brothers's School," and the two story house was vacant. I think Joyce left out the Rice House because it offered a becon of hope to poor boys. Edmund Rice opened a place that would take in boys to educate them and give them a sense of belonging. If Joyce placed this in his story, Araby would not have the exotic appeal it did to the boy. The boy wanted an escape from the mundane, and the Rice House would have presented that. So Jocye took it out to not dimmer the boy's appeal to Araby. He describes it as, "an uninhabited house of two storeys... detached from its neighbors in a square ground... air, musty from having been long enclosed, hung in all the rooms... wild garden behind the house." The little house today is, as mentioned before, currently occupied and in much better condition than it was years ago.
Though there are several modern infrastructures that inhabit the North Richmond street we see today, versus the romanticized one we read from Joyce, the feeling of inactive blindness still inhabits its walls. I like your description of the despite road and appreciate your criticism to the modern day vs. the past description.
ReplyDeleteDominique: The Edmund Rice House is not mentioned in the story, but it is a late 19th century Building. Joyce simply does not mention it. Why do you think that is. Please put your last name first in the title of your post. That way, I can follow all your posts together. If you put it later in the title. It will not show up under your name.
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ReplyDeleteDominique, i think you miss the opportunity to weave more of Joyce into the post. Also, think about the contrast between the apparent exotocness of Araby and the drabness of N. Richmond St.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I did some research on the Rice building. I think Joyce left out the Edmund Rice building because it was a becon of hope for poor boys. It would have drowned out the exoticness of Araby because there would be no need for the boy to go to Araby. Araby was an escape from the mundane life of N. Richmond St, but that wouldnt be possible if there was an escape from the mundane on the street to begin with.
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