#6 Araby, by James Joyce

 

Rating: 8/10

‘Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.’

If I have to pick the most memorable sentence in ‘Araby’, I will choose this one. The boy, who is the main character of this story, goes to Araby to buy a present for Mangun’s sister. However, it was not the fancy bazaar that he expected, and the little child in reality was shabbier than expected. The experience of visiting Araby has a symbolic meaning that it was the first time he faces the reality. He started full of confidence that he’ll buy her a present, but in front of reality, he was just young and shabby. Based on the miserable emotion, he expresses anger by calling himself a "creature." Perhaps the child will remember this day for a long time even when he grows up. That’s what Epiphany is all about.

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  1. Garrioch2022년 3월 23일 오후 5:49

    Good details and summary of the "epiphany." Indeed that is one of the most important sentences. Why did you give this 8 from a personal perspective? What do you like about it or identify with?

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#2 The Student, by Anton Chekhov

  The Student, by Anton Chekhov Rating: 7/10 This book shows the epiphany of a boy through the short content. It's only 3 pages long, but the boy at the beginning and end of the story is completely different. Ivan tells the widows some stories about Jesus and Jews. After they heard the story, they showed signs of discomfort. The widows' reactions have caused Ivan to reinterpret his view of the past and present. At the beginning of the story, Ivan had a pessimistic view of life and thought that the passage of time made no difference. But after he left the house, he believes that human emotions are always the same and therefore time can link everyone. And now he takes an optimistic view of life, focusing on the positives.
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#5 The Sisters, by James Joyce

 Rating: 6/10 The introduction of ‘the sisters’ represents the relationship between Flynn and me based on the present point of view. And when the protagonist visited her home after her death, he heard the bride's past story and the story ended. After reading the latter part, I didn't understand much at first. I wondered what was the ‘Holy Grail’ that he broke, why he broke it and fell into a great shock, and why people said that the child he was with was wrong. But I couldn't answer clearly to these questions. And the interpretation that Flynn was a pedophile came as a shock to me. It is also a work that made me realize that even if all the people read the same story, we can interpret it as different contents from various perspectives.
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