Characteristic Restrained Misery in Araby and The Red Convertible Essay

Characteristic Restrained Misery

Characters often cannot express their interior self because of their social and cultural restriction. In the two different stories Araby and The Red Convertibles, the authors used a significant way to depict characters conflict between an individuals social and interior self. James Joyce is the author of the short fiction Araby which is about an adult narrator, a character of the story who was confused with his thoughts and dreams of his younger stage. Louise Erdrich is the author of the story The Red Convertibles which is narrated by one of the character of the story named Lyman who was telling the story infers how his elder brothers inner agony was perpetrated for committing suicide. All of the conflicts of characters of these stories are initiated by the social and cultural restraints.

Araby is a story where the adult narrator tells the story with his younger self falls in love with his neighbor's sister. He spends his time watching her from his house and thinking about her. When he finally meets her, she tells the narrator about a bazaar called Araby, the narrator decides to go there and buy something for her. However, he arrives at the bazaar too late and buys nothing. He leaves the bazaar with an epiphany and feeling foolish and angry with himself.

In Araby, the narrator is the major character who didn't forget his special youthful moments. He finds himself he was disappointed with his unforgotten youthful hopes, desires and frustrations. All of the conflict in this story happens inside his mind. Beginning of the story it shows narrator younger self confuses with religious idealism with romance. He mentioned this romance as a confused adoration (207). He is innocent, ignorant and lost. He has not yet learned how to separate the religious teachings and reality of life. He finds himself entering a new experience, his first love, his neighbors sister. His feeling and imagination is so limited by his experience with religious education. According to him, I did not know whether I would ever speak to her or not or, if I spoke to her, how I could tell her of my confused adoration (207). Finally He and the girl have some verbal communication, and she suggests that he visit a bazaar called Araby, which she cannot attend. He plans to go and purchase something for the girl. He spends his days and nights thinking and dreaming about the "Araby." He builds all his hopes and dreams on that moment when he goes to the "Araby" bazaar and brings something for the one he loves. On the night he is supposed to attend the fair, his uncle is late returning home and he must wait to get money from him. He gets very anxious and frustrates. Finally, his uncle arrives. His uncle feels sorry for him, because he knows that he will be disappointed after all these dreams of going to the "Araby" bazaar. Arriving at the bazaar, he finds it nearly empty. He finds a sales girl ignores him while she gossips with two young men. When she finally approaches, ask him if he wishes to buy anything, but he declines. Suddenly, He experiences an epiphany, His conversation with his love, during which he promised he would buy her something, was really only small talk as meaningless as the one between the sales girl and her companions. He realizes it does not containing the spirituality he looking for. He realizes that he has placed all his love and hope in a world that doesn't exist, except in his imagination. As he walks slowly out of the hall into the darkness, he thinks that he is a creature driven and derided by vanity and his eyes burned with anguish and anger (210).

The Narrator never shares any of his feelings concerning his love with anyone. He mentions in the beginning of the story the hour when the Christian Brothers school set the boys free. He also states, I saw my companions playing below in the street. Their cries reached me weakened and indistinct and, leaning my forehead against cool glass, I looked over at the dark house where she lived (209) indicates he isolates himself from his friends who seem terribly young to him. Once his crush begins he isolates himself from his family also. The girl he loves is also completely unaware of his feelings for her. When he suddenly realizes how foolish he has been, his anger at himself is emphasized to feeling of isolation. Some characters often cannot express themselves so that they isolate themselves from their society because of their social restriction. In Araby, James Joyce exemplifies one of the characters inarticulate sorrows.

The Red Convertible is narrated by Lyman who tells a story about the relationship between himself and his elder brother Henry. Lymans motivation for telling the story is to embrace his brothers memory. The title of the story points most significant meaning of the story, the car. The red car represents the blood connection between Lyman and Henry. They bought this car together with so much happiness and took it on summer-long road together. Twice Henry tries to give Lyman full ownership of the car, but Lyman refuses because the car symbolizes their union. In the end, the car took them together to last tragic shocking moment. Lyman lost his brother as well as the car lost in the river forever. Once Henry is dead, Lyman realized that his lost his connection to his brother as well as the car that represents the unity of brotherhood is diminished in the deep down to the river.

In The Red Convertible, beginning in the story it describes Henry was Lymans elder brother who was an average build, funny, talkative person. He used to go out his brother every time and have fun. He used to take trip without having plan. He was a dependable man with sense of human and easygoing person. He enrolled to serve in the Vietnam War and became a Marine. When he returned three years later, he had changed. Accordingly to Lyman, the change was no good. You could hardly expect him to change for the better, I know (221).No longer easy going, funny and talkative, he was quiet, anxious and moody. He rarely laughed or smiled. He often watched televising, but he was extremely tense. Although His younger brother Lyman tried to revive Henrys spirit by damaging car so Henry could fix it, but Henry knew what happened to the car. He fixed the car so that Lyman would have it. On the day of his death, Henry was smiling and joking. He was also talkative, leading Lyman to think that Henry was himself again. When he was alone with Lyman His face was totally white and hard. Then it broke, like stones break all of a sudden when water boils up inside them (224) suggests that he tried to share his tragic moment but his interior misery actuated him to commit suicide.

Lyman is the storys narrator. He tells the story of when he was along with his brother Henry, owned a red convertible car. Lymans relationship with his brother was typical. They had the most fun when they were together. Lyman added, I remember I laid under those trees and it was comfortable. So comfortable. The branches bent down all around me like a tent or a stable. And quiet, it was quiet (219). When Henry went to fight in the Vietnam War, Lyman remained optimistic. He took care of the car so that when Henry returned, they could enjoy it just as they had before Henry left. But when he saw that Henry had changed after the war, he was very sensitive to his brothers feelings. His altruistic nature and optimism encouraged him to help his brother find joy again. Lyman thought the car might bring the old Henry back somehow (222). Lyman felt very close to his brother, even when his brother was emotionally unavailable. Lyman comments, I knew I was feeling what Henry was going through at the moment (224).

In The Red Convertible, Henry never expressed that he loved his brother very much and valued their relationship. He had some shocking moments in war that he never expressed. Once he returned home, he started to isolate him from his family. According to Lyman, By then I guess the whole war was solved in the governments mind, but for him it would keep on going.(221). Henrys unexpressed inner agony that he was going through by committing suicide was faded away. On the other hand, Lyman saw his brother in the river and that he tried to rescue him, but he does not say how he felt. He describes running the car into the river after his brother, but he could not express how it made him feel. He said, It is all finally dark. And then there is only water, the sound of it going and running and going and running and running (226) indicates this emotional silence tells his feelings are too painful to share.

Characters often cannot express themselves because of their cultural and social circumstances. James Joyce and Louise Erdrich illustrate this conflict between identical interior true feelings and their restraint cultures in these two stories Araby and The Red Convertible.