I felt that An Encounter, from James Joyce’s Dubliners, really started to get interesting when the man joined Mahony and the main character in the field. Looking at this piece from a “place” perspective, I’m not exactly sure what the open field represents. Perhaps it is meant to mean that the main character is now in the open and cannot hide from his sins?
In this piece and in Araby as well, I had difficulty distinguishing the age of the characters. At first, I pictured both the main characters from both of these pieces as younger boys, and then had to adjust my initial perceptions because of their objects of conversation and desires. For example, the man in the field in An Encounter talks about sweethearts, while the main character in Araby yearns for Araby.
Altogether, I liked Araby more than An Encounter. I especially liked the tension in the last line. It reads, “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derived by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger” (35). In the end, he realizes that he is at the bazaar alone, and he is upset with himself for pursuing childish impulses that yield no results. (This is my interpretation.) Two lines that stood out are:
“I had never spoken to her, except for a few casual words, and yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood” (30).
“Through one of the broken panes I heard the rain impinge upon the earth, the fine incessant needles of water playing in the sodden beds” (31).
In this piece and in Araby as well, I had difficulty distinguishing the age of the characters. At first, I pictured both the main characters from both of these pieces as younger boys, and then had to adjust my initial perceptions because of their objects of conversation and desires. For example, the man in the field in An Encounter talks about sweethearts, while the main character in Araby yearns for Araby.
Altogether, I liked Araby more than An Encounter. I especially liked the tension in the last line. It reads, “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derived by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger” (35). In the end, he realizes that he is at the bazaar alone, and he is upset with himself for pursuing childish impulses that yield no results. (This is my interpretation.) Two lines that stood out are:
“I had never spoken to her, except for a few casual words, and yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood” (30).
“Through one of the broken panes I heard the rain impinge upon the earth, the fine incessant needles of water playing in the sodden beds” (31).