Darkness and light are everywhere, and one cannot exist without the other. However, a combination of the two creates shadows where a world can be altered into a form of twilight, twilight. It is in this dark light that a person can find themselves wandering blind, much like the character in the short story "Araby" written by James Joyce where a boy is, in a sense, blind throughout the story until he sees the truth. In his short story "Araby," Joyce uses a combination of diction, imagery, and light/darkness to create the motif of blindness that conveys the narrator's experience and journey to enlightenment. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay To begin, the diction of Joyce's "Araby" brings up a very current idea of ​​blindness. It begins with “North Richmond Street, being blind” as an unusual description of a street, and goes on to say “An uninhabited house of two stories stood at the blind end” (Joyce 1223). The idea of ​​being blind is immediately created, and although it is curious why a street is described as blind, it can be deduced that perhaps the street (or rather its inhabitants) are also blind to the outside world. As for the house located at the blind end, it is detached from the rest of the neighborhood and blind to the neighbors. “The other houses, aware of the dignified life within them, looked at each other with unperturbed brown faces” (1223). To be conscious, you must have sight in some way and be able to perceive some of the world around you. These houses are also aware of their inhabitants and they look at each other indicating that they are not blind unlike their aloof and blind neighbor. However, these other houses are described as “brown,” which is a muddy, blind color. These first moments in "Araby" immediately establish the concept of blindness that remains prevalent throughout the rest of the story. The images in Joyce's "Araby" are a fantastic combination of light and dark which creates a dim and shadowy environment which also contributes to the concept of blindness. On page 1224, the narrator describes the state the neighborhood was in “when the short days of winter came” and “when twilight fell” in the early hours of the day. Twilight is a dark time of day, a middle ground between light and darkness that can disorient if not sometimes blind, and winter is a dark season in which daylight lacks a primary presence. On page 1224 it is also mentioned that the sky was "the ever-changing color of purple", adding to the imagery of the setting by creating a world of dim light and perhaps making it difficult to see, thus contributing to blindness. . Along with the sky and the season there are also “dark and muddy alleys,” “dark dripping gardens,” and even “smelling stables” (1224). From these descriptions it is clear that darkness is dominant in the narrator's world, and a world of darkness would make vision difficult. This also contributes to the concept of blindness because the inability to see is an attribute of blindness. Furthermore, the narrator claimed to "hide in the shadows" when his uncle came home and also watched Mangan's sister from the shadows (1224). Not only is the setting and environment a dark, dark color of blindness, but the narrator also seems to embrace this dark world to the extent that he hides in it. Instead of seeking the light, the narrator retreats into the shadows where it is difficult to see, making him blind to reality and even to himself. The dim images and darkness of the setting undoubtedly contribute to the idea that it may be difficult to "see", thus adding to the motif of blindness. Even the thoughts and feelings expressedby the narrator contribute to the concept of blindness in the story. On page 1225 the narrator freely admits “I've been thinking about it in the future." When a person is blind or in the dark, it is difficult to see very far ahead of him, especially into the future. The narrator may be so blind that he literally cannot see. unable to see anything that might lie before him because of the vast darkness that envelops him and because of his blindness, on a “dark and rainy evening,” the narrator says, “I was grateful to be able to see so little” (1225). .This is quite surprising in that not only is the narrator blind in his ignorance and desire, but he is content and even grateful to be blind to reality. As mentioned above, the narrator almost deliberately chooses to hide in the shadows and in a blinding darkness, but he is blind to what this does to him. The narrator also admits, "I could not gather my wandering thoughts" (1225). Perhaps the reason why the narrator cannot control his wandering thoughts is for he may be blind in the shadows and darkness in which he chooses to hide, and in this blindness the narrator wanders in confused disorientation. These thoughts expressed by the narrator indicate that he is somehow lost or even blind to the world around him and is unable to find his way: he remains in the shadows, blind. One contributor to the concept of blindness is Mangan's unnamed sister. Just being nameless fuels the idea that the narrator is blind to his childish desire for her. In fact, even the narrator's name has not been revealed, which perhaps furthers the idea that the narrator is also blind to himself, his behaviors and his own blindness. Not only that, but this also blinds the reader because the identities of these characters are hidden behind a curtain of darkness. Mangan's sister is barely described as a "brown figure" only on page 1224, and again on page 1226 when the narrator stares at the "dark house where she lived" and sees nothing but "the brown-robed figure created by his imagination ". Brown is, once again, a murky, blind color that makes the girl seem mysterious, and the narrator is enchanted by this mystery to the point of a disoriented daze. In this disorientation it is difficult to see the truth and reality, so through Mangan's mysterious and nameless sister, it is revealed that the narrator is blind in his desire for her. At the end of the story, the narrator is left in the dark in a literal blindness that forces him to finally “see” himself and reality for what they really are. “Looking up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and mocked by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger" (1227). In a failed attempt to procure a trinket at the bazaar to “win” the love of Mangan's sister, the narrator awakens from his disoriented daze, from his blindness. The darkness blinds the narrator in a new way, making his eyes burn, and it is in this darkness – this new kind of blindness – that he is finally able to reflect on himself and achieve awareness of reality. This enlightenment allows him to see how blind he truly was to his behavior and his desperate desires, and in shame his eyes burn at this realization of the reality of his dark world. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom EssayThroughout the plot, the narrator seems to wander further and further into dark blindness in a futile attempt to win the heart of Mangan's sister. He is so driven into his blindness that it begins to seem obsessive in nature, but the author is not aware of this at the time.