Araby 解析2.

3. What words and phrases express the boy's extreme idealism and romantic view of the world? In what way does such language help to communicate the story's major theme?

1) I liked the last best because its leaves were yellow. 小男孩天真浪漫的價值觀。

2) Her image accompanied me even in places the most hostile to romance.... 小男孩在惡劣環境下仍能有浪漫情懷。

8. Identify words and phrases in the story that are associated with religion. What purpose do these references to religion serve?

James Joyce 在這篇 Araby 故事中表面上是談這男孩的感情及感知的世界，但其背後卻是暗指 Joyce 個人對宗教的看法。首先，Joyce 對於當時 (此文於1914年出版) 愛爾蘭主流宗教，天主教，十分反感，但又不能高談闊論，只好將受壓抑的心理緊密地交織在這篇小說的各個角落裡。

1) North Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian Brothers' School set the boys free.
小說第一句就反映了Joyce 對天主教的輕蔑心態，倒不是因為小孩放學時的吵雜聲，而是這群讀教會學校的小孩在學校有如入監服刑，放學時就好像服刑期滿一樣重獲自由，也難怪這群小孩會嬉鬧過街。

2) The former tenant of our house, a priest, had died in the back drawing-room.
這男孩與叔父母所住的這棟房子的前屋主，這位神父的過世也暗喻著天主教的衰落，這房子同時也象徵愛爾蘭這個國家，而這神父就是長期主導愛爾蘭宗教，天主教的象徵。同時，令人玩味的是這位神父死前居然遺留大筆遺產 (in his will he had left all his money to institutions and the furniture of his house to his sister.) 。這種指控也是針對教會組織的偽善及不正直

3) The wild garden behind the house contained a central apple-tree...
屋後院子裡有棵蘋果樹，這就是伊甸園 (Garden of Eden) 的經典象徵。這也是眾所皆知的 "墮落" (fall from grace, 按: 亞當與夏娃因嚐了園中禁果，而失去了神的恩寵)。故事中安排這段隱喻，就是告知讀者，這小男孩即將也會面臨成長過程中的一大課題，戀眷之情。此外，小男孩的暗戀有宗教崇拜的寓意，他暗戀的對象就是聖母瑪麗亞(Virgin Mary) 化身。

4) I looked over at the dark house where she lived. I may have stood there for an hour, seeing nothing but the brown-clad figure cast by my imagination, touched discreetly by the lamplight at the curved neck, at the hand upon the railings and at the border below the dress.
這些神蹟般的想像畫面，更是暗喻這個他暗戀的女生是聖母瑪麗亞。而且，在前往Araby市集當晚，這男孩的uncle返家之前，他的Aunt告訴她 "I'm afraid you may put off your bazaar for this night of Our Lord." 這也是對聖母的虔敬表現。

5) Her name sprang to my lips at moments in strange prayers....; But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires.
Joyce 也援用了不少宗教語彙來描述這男孩對女孩的著迷。

6) All my senses seemed to desire to veil themselves and, feeling that I was about to slip from them, I pressed the palms of my hands together until they trembled, murmuring: `O love! O love!' many times.
由於宗教的束縛，性慾也嚴重受到壓抑。

7) While she spoke she turned a silver bracelet round and round her wrist. She could not go, she said, because there would be a retreat that week in her convent.
這女孩的焦慮不安，也暗指性慾在宗教中所面對的壓迫。