araby and the bet

1. EWRT 1C Class
13
The Short Story

2. AGENDA
 Author Introductions
 James Joyce
 Anton Chekhov
 Short Story Discussions:
 “Araby”
 “The Bet”
 Historical Content
 Literary Style
 Questions
 QHQ

3. JAMES
JOYCE (1882-
1941)
James Joyce was born into a
middle-class, Catholic family in a
suburb of Dublin, on February 2,
1882.

4.  Joyce's father, John Joyce even though
he was a good-natured man, was a
drinker who wasted the family's
resources. The family’s prosperity
dwindled, forcing them to move from
their comfortable home to the
unfashionable and impoverished area
of North Dublin.
 Nonetheless, Joyce attended a
prestigious Jesuit school and went on
to study philosophy and languages at
University College, Dublin. He moved to
Paris after graduation in 1902 to
pursue medical school, but instead he
turned his attention to writing.
James Joyce Age 6

5.  In 1903 he returned to
Dublin, where he met his
future wife, Nora
Barnacle, the following
year.
 From then on, Joyce made
his home in other
countries. From 1905 to
1915 he and Nora lived in
Rome and Trieste, Italy, and
from 1915 to 1919 they
lived in Zurich, Switzerland.
Between World War I and
World War II, they lived in
Paris. They returned to
Zurich in 1940, where Joyce
died in 1941

6. James Joyce
 Joyce regarded himself as a genius
and refused to make any compromises
in his writing to achieve commercial
success. His difficult personality
alienated many people who came into
contact with him, but he enjoyed the
devotion of Nora, his brother Stanislaus,
and a number of close friends and
patrons who recognized and helped to
nurture his exceptional talent. Since his
death in Zurich in 1941, readers, critics,
and scholars have continued to study his
works. He is regarded today as one of
the most important authors of the
twentieth century and as a giant of
literary modernism.
Major Works:
Dubliners 1914
A Portrait of the Artist as a
Young Man 1916
Exiles and Poetry 1918
Ulysses 1922
Finnegan’s Wake 1938
Joyce talking with publishers
Sylvia Beach and Adrienne
Monnier at Shakespeare &
Co., Paris, 1920

7. “Araby”
 “Araby” is the third of the fifteen stories in Dubliners (1914). These
stories examine the hazards of the various stages in life, and “Araby”
marks the end of childhood and the beginning of adolescence.
 James Joyce based “Araby” on his own experiences as an adolescent
resident of Dublin in 1894, when Ireland was chafing under British rule.
 Like the fictional narrator of “Araby,” Joyce lived on North Richmond
Street (No. 17) in the central part of the city. He was also undergoing a
period of self-discovery.
 The climactic scene takes place in South Dublin, across the River Liffey from
central Dublin, at a bazaar in a large building. Such a bazaar—billed as
Araby: a Grand Oriental Fête (or as “A Grand Oriental Fête: Araby in Dublin”)
was actually held in Dublin between May 14 and May 19, 1894, to
benefit a local hospital.

8. Historical Context
 As he portrays it in his work, Joyce’s Dublin was
composed mostly of lower-to middle-class residents
oppressed by financial hardships, foreign political
dominance, quarrelsome rival Irish nationalist groups, and
the overwhelming influence of the Irish Catholic Church.
 In the late 1800s, Ireland was still reeling from the
agricultural disasters of mid-century and the massive Irish
immigration (mainly to the United States) that followed.
Consistently throughout the stories, characters agonize
over a crown or even a shilling; this underscores the
prevailing financial difficulties among most citizens.

9. Politics
 Ireland was ruled by the British
monarchy, which, of course, many of the
Irish resented. The British government
had an open hostility to both the Irish (for
their general lack of education and their
superstitious ways) and the Catholic
Church. That the British profited from its
presence in Ireland only served to further
inflame the Irish at the British presence.

10. Charles Stewart
Parnell
 Charles Stewart Parnell was a
political leader in the 1880s.
Because of his influence, political
savvy and staunch support of
home rule, the achievement of
Ireland’s independence seemed
more likely under Parnell’s
leadership than ever before.
However, a romantic scandal in
1889 damaged Parnell’s
reputation, allowing his opponents
and groups of zealous Catholics
(Parnell was Protestant), to
discredit him and undermine his
power base. This broke Parnell,
leading to his political defeat and—
ultimately—his death in 1891.
CHARLES STEWART PARNELL
(1846-1891). Irish nationalist
leader, on an American
advertising circular of the 1880s.

11. The Catholic Church
 An overwhelming force in the Ireland of Joyce’s period
was that of the Irish Catholic Church, since a vast
majority of the Irish were Catholics. According to his
biographer, Richard Ellmann, Joyce believed that the
“real sovereign of Ireland [was] the Pope” (Ellmann,
James Joyce, 256). Although Joyce left the Church,
Ellmann adds, he “continued to denounce all his life
the deviousness of Papal policy,” finding the Church
and the papacy “deaf” to Irish cries for help (Ellmann,
James Joyce, 257).

12. Literary Style

13.  The first-person point of view in "Araby"
means that readers see the story
through the eyes of the narrator and
know what he feels and thinks. When
the narrator is confused or conflicted
about his feelings, then readers must
figure out how the narrator really feels
and why he feels that way. For
example, when the narrator first
describes Mangan's sister, he says that
"her figure [is] defined by the light from
the half-opened door.'' In other words,
she is lit from behind, giving her an
unearthly "glow," like an angel or
supernatural being such as the Virgin
Mary. Readers are left to interpret the
meaning behind the narrator's words,
because the boy is not sophisticated
enough to understand his own desires.

14.  Joyce is famous for using a stream-of-consciousness technique for storytelling.
Although stream of consciousness does not figure prominently in "Araby,'' a
reader can see the beginnings of Joyce's use of this technique, which he used
extensively in his subsequent novels, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. A major
feature of stream-of-consciousness storytelling is that the narration takes
place inside the mind of main characters and follows their thoughts as
they occur to them, whether those thoughts are complete sentences or
not. Although this story uses complete sentences for its storytelling, the
narration takes place inside the boy's mind. Another feature of stream-of-
consciousness narration is that the narrator's thoughts are not explained
for the reader. This is true of "Araby" as well, especially during and after the
boy's epiphany.

15.  ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nT_qPiPaDs

16. In Teams:
Questions for Thought
1. Identify and discuss one or more of
the numerous religious symbols in
the story.
2. The narrator of "Araby" moves from
innocence to experience through his
epiphany. What has he learned by
the end of the story?
3. Write a short psychological profile of
the narrator based on a passage
from the story.
4. Tensions, Ambiguity, Paradox, and
Irony?

17. Identify and discuss one or more of the
numerous religious symbols in the
story.
The short story opens with the description of a priest’s death, whose
room was “littered with useless papers” pointing at “The Abbot, by Walter
Scott, The Devout Communicant, and The Memoirs of Vidocq,” which are
all books that positively reinforce the devoutness of Christian faith.
The first symbol is the lust that the main character has for his friend’s
sister. Clearly his infatuation for her is absolute because he can’t go to
school, work or think about anything without the idea of her invading his
mind. Even if this was a romantic conquest where he knew her, had many
experiences with her and was in love with her, his ubiquitous obsession
would seem outlandish. But he claims he “had never spoken to her,
except for a few casual words”. So clearly, lust, one of the seven deadly
sins is a pervasive symbol in this story.

18. Write a short psychological profile of the
narrator based on a passage from the
story.
 What roles do the ID, EGO, and SUPEREGO act out
through the speaker in “Araby”?
 “The wild garden behind the house contained a central
apple-tree and a few straggling bushes, under one of
which I found the late tenant's rusty bicycle-pump. He had
been a very charitable priest; in his will he had left all his
money to institutions and the furniture of his house to his
sister.” (par 2)

19. “My eyes were often full of tears (I could not tell why) and at
times a flood from my heart seemed to pour itself out into my
bosom. I thought little of the future. 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. But my body was like a harp
and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the
wires.
One evening I went into the back drawing-room in which the
priest had died. It was a dark rainy evening and there was no
sound in the house. 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. Some distant lamp or lighted
window gleamed below me. I was thankful that I could see so
little. 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.” (pars 5-6)

20. The narrator of "Araby" moves from innocence
to experience through his epiphany. What has
he learned by the end of the story?
“I lingered before her stall, though I knew my stay was useless, to
make my interest in her wares seem the more real. Then I turned
away slowly and walked down the middle of the bazaar. I allowed
the two pennies to fall against the sixpence in my pocket. I heard
a voice call from one end of the gallery that the light was out. The
upper part of the hall was now completely dark.
Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven
and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and
anger.”

21. Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov was one of the most
influential literary artists to usher in the
era of modernism, particularly in short
fiction. When his stories were first made
widely available in English, they were
termed mere sketches, lacking in all the
elements that constituted the short-story
form. Critics soon began to realize,
however, that Chekhov’s freedom from
the prevailing conventions of social
realism and formalized plot indicated the
beginnings of a modern kind of narrative,
which combined the specific detail of
realism with the poetic lyricism of
Romanticism.
1860-1904

22. Chekhov’s most significant contributions
to the short-story form include the
following:
1. The presentation of character as a psychological
mood rather than as a realistic personality
2. The conception of a story as a lyrical sketch rather
than as a highly plotted tale
3. The assumption of reality as basically
impressionistic and as a function of narrative
perspective or point of view.
The final result of these innovations has been
the modernist and postmodernist view of
reality as a fictional construct.

23. Context
Just prior to the birth of Chekhov, Russia underwent a
widespread uprising to bring about the end of the
autocracy of the tsar and the feudal system. In 1861,
Alexander II issued an emancipation that freed the serfs
and set in motion the first civil rights in Russia. The gentry,
without their serfs, were unable to maintain their position in
society. The law was codified during this time, a process
that led to the creation of the legal profession, to which one
of the protagonists in “The Bet” belonged.

24. During these years, the issues of literacy and education
came to the forefront. The gentry formed into a group called
Populists, putting forth the idea of a united population that
included the peasants. Industrialization brought more
workers to major cities, and educated men like those in “The
Bet” gathered together to discuss sociopolitical ideals.
Literature had been highly censored prior to the
emancipation, and now writers began to find ways to criticize
the current regime and its politics. However, they had to
approach it cleverly, because reform was not so complete
that open opposition was tolerated. Chekhov managed by
simply depicting the inequities of the system without
commenting on their moral implications.

25. Style
The banker and the lawyer serve as voices of two
different viewpoints. Except for the letter written at the
end of the fifteen-year period, Chekhov does not reveal
the thoughts of the captive. On the other hand, the story
begins with the banker’s memories and observations,
proceeds to his worries about money and his resolution
to kill the prisoner rather than pay the bet, and concludes
with the banker’s self-contempt and with his self-
protective gesture. It might be that Chekhov is more
interested in the psychological and ironic possibilities of
the Banker’s account than in a didactic point about the
value of freedom or life.

26. Point of View
“The Bet” is told from the point of view of an objective
narrator. The narrator's identity is unknown, and he relates
little commentary on the actions of the characters, except
that which is entirely visible to one watching the plot unfold;
there are no prejudices toward the characters and no moral
for the ending.. The narrator gives himself the license to
add an exclamation mark when describing how the bet
finally was agreed upon, to show the ridiculous nature of it,
but he denotes no hero, no winner, and no lesson to be
learned from the debacle.

27. Usually Chekhov’s imagery, too, reflects his psychological
interest. Certainly in “The Bet” it is appropriate that the story
begins on a dark rainy night and that the banker’s
temptation to murder occurs on a dark, cold, rainy night, that
he passes a bare bed and a cold stove on the way to the
sealed room, and that the prisoner’s room is dark, with a
dimming candle. All these images of death are consistent
with the banker’s resolution, as well as with the lawyer’s
death-in-life. Because they are seen through the banker’s
eyes, however, they are particularly important as reflecting
his own psychological condition, a despair that is itself a
death-in-life, and that may finally be Chekhov’s particular
interest in “The Bet.”
Imagery and Psychology

28.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clGcNmXLssg&list=PLSINeHCnyzJxNlUXKX8S
bkhJOBvQFTtvy

29. In Groups: Discuss “The Bet”
 Write a short psychological
profile of either the lawyer
or the banker in “The Bet”
based on a passage or two
from the story.
 Has the lawyer been
traumatized or
enlightened? Why do you
think so?
 QHQ “The Bet”
 Tensions, Ambiguity,
Paradox, and Irony?

30. Tensions, Ambiguity,
Paradox, and Irony?

31. Irony
1. The arrogant banker is reduced to humility through the loss of his
fortune.
2. Once considered an upstanding man of the community, the banker
is reduced to a man who intends to murder his adversary.
3. The lawyer's imprisonment changes him from a man assured of the
sanctity of preserving life in any way possible to one who cares
nothing for life or freedom.
4. Neither man wins, and neither man is considered morally good or
bad.
5. The characters’ thoughtless last acts serve to free one another.
Instead of killing the lawyer, the banker plants a kiss on his head.
6. The prisoner then escapes, freeing the banker from having to pay
his debt.

32. Psychological Profile
 Anton Chekov’s “The Bet” represents the author’s own
exploration of literature for meaning in life. This story likely results
from a conflict in his superego, as the main tension during the
climax details an inner struggle with society and culture itself:
“And I despise your books, I despise wisdom and the blessings of
this world. It is all worthless, fleeting, illusory, and deceptive, like a
mirage”(5). While the lawyer’s new outlook holds some possible
truth (that perhaps reference to “this world” refers to material
possession, and people should find value beyond the physical), it
is clear that years of imprisonment has effectively shut down his
ability to cope with day to day life. He exhibits severe signs of
dissociation and denial, as his lack of regular perception of time
leads to an unawareness of the self. While this state of mind
reflects in some ways that of enlightenment, in the lawyer’s case,
it came about from a drawn out traumatic experience so therefore
lacks fundamental connection with basic reality.

33. Has the lawyer been traumatized or enlightened?
Why do you think so?
By the end of the fifteen year period he writes a letter to the banker
explaining that he is renouncing the two million dollar reward. Ironically the
lawyer who was imprisoned for fifteen years is now more free than the
banker who did as he pleased for fifteen years. He has learned many
different languages and studied the bible for over a year, and now has
reached enlightenment. He realizes that living anyhow is not better than not
living at all.
Through reading different forms of literature, [the lawyer] was able to pass
the time and learned new languages and experiences. Through these books,
the lawyer was also able to discover his own purpose. The day before the
lawyer is free from confinement, he stated that he would be breaking their
bet, despite being so lose to winning it. I felt like the lawyer had already
proved to himself victorious (against the banker) by escaping from solitary
confinement before he was liberated. Although he did not win the two million
dollars, he gained more knowledge and experience than what he could have
possibly bargained for. And through this knowledge that he gained, the
lawyer is free, while the banker is still stuck in find and prove his purpose in

34. Has the lawyer been traumatized or enlightened?
Why do you think so?
1. I think he is both traumatized and enlightened. He becomes a
totally different person through this experience. It seems like
he loses sort of humanity like general understanding and love
for social system and people. In the middle of the letter, he
admits that “Your books gave me wisdom. All that unwearying
human thought created in the centuries is compressed to a
little lump in my skull,” however, he switches to “”And I
despise your books, despise all worldly blessings and
wisdom. Everything is void, frail, visionary and delusive as a
mirage.” His enlightenment is about the vacuity. Even though
this enlightenment is bad for him, it is still an enlightenment.
We can say he is traumatized by this enlightenment.

35. QHQ “The Bet”
1. Q: Did the lawyer know that the banker would kill him if he
did not give up the two million dollars?
2. Q: In Anton Chekhov’s story “The Bet”, did the lawyer’s
agreement to be confined from the outside world for 15
years prove that “it’s better to live somehow than to not
live at all”?
3. Question: Do you believe the lawyer was unduly critical of
society? Is the banker an example of all that the lawyer
believes is wrong with society? Also why did the banker
fire two shots???

36. QHQ: “The Bet”
 Tyson states in the section on death that “we can
see how death, emotional death if not biological
death, is so attractive, at least on the unconscious
level: if I don’t feel anything, then I can’t be hurt”
(Tyson 23) We see this mindset the speaker of “The
Bet” who states “I despise your books, despise all
worldly blessings and wisdom. Everything is void,
frail, visionary and delusive as a mirage. Though
you be proud and wise and beautiful, yet will death
wipe you from the face of the earth” Really what is
the point of living if we will only die?

37. HOMEWORK
Read “The Story of an Hour”
Post #12: Choose one
 Discuss Mrs. Mallard as a
sympathetic character or as a
cruel and selfish character.
How might your own gender,
age, class or ethnicity
influence your response?
 Do you think Chopin's critique
of the institution of marriage,
as expressed by Louise, is
applicable today?
 Discuss the story through one
critical lens
 Discuss Trauma: who suffers
it and why?
 QHQ
Read: “A Very Old Man with
Enormous Wings”
Post #13: Choose one
 Speculate on the identity of the
“old man.”
 How does the manner in which
Garcia Marquez treats the
traditional idea of angels in "A
Very Old Man with Enormous
Wings" compare with the way
angels are represented or
interpreted elsewhere?
 Discuss the story through one
critical lens
 Discuss Trauma: who suffers it
and why?
 QHQ