Chapter 7: "Or the Bible"

Araby, when it comes down to it, is actually just a story of love, lust, and obsession (however you look at it), but within this story there are multiple biblical allusions that can be drawn from it. Right from the beginning, the hatred that James Joyce has toward the Catholic Church. Joyce backs this up by setting the background on a silent and quiet street until the recklessness of the boys from the local Catholic school are allowed to be unleashed and roam free. Another biblical that can be made is when Joyce puts an apple tree in the backyard. When I read this, I immediately saw this as symbolism. The symbolism of Adam, Eve, and the serpent. Adam and Eve sinned when they ate the forbidden fruit. In Araby, this can be taken as a coming of age moment, the leaving behind of the childhood qualities to a more mature stage of your life. You can't stay a child forever, the way to actually mature is to take care of yourself and have self reliance. That is what comes with adulthood and I think Araby lays that out very apparently. Another biblical allusion that is laid out in Araby has to deal with the house of the main character. We learn that the main character's house (the boy) used to be occupied by a priest, and in the lines following you can tell the resentment that he has towards the church. In Araby, there is the example of "two great jars" that are at the bazaar. These jars are an allusion to Genesis when God chases Eve and Adam away from Eden and then God puts Cherubim to make a barrier so they can't get back in.