Araby Vs. Going to the Moon

"Araby" Vs. "Going to the Moon"

By: Heba Haidar

Humans have always been curious beings. Their curiosity has brought about new experiences, and new knowledge that helped in the process of their evolution. Human children grow up and learn about the world by utilizing their sense of curiosity to gain new experiences in life. This curiosity that is built into us at birth is what drives us to be drawn to the unkown. "Araby", by James Joyce and "Going to the moon", by Nino Ricci are both short stories that show that the Human curiosity is indeed what makes humans drawn to the unknown. Both stories are about young boys and both have a female impact on them, both boys are drawn to new places unknown to them and in the end, both come out with disappointment because of shattered promises about the unknown.

Firstly, in life, males and females are often fascinated by each other, because of the differences in their nature. Males are drawn to females because of their differences and vice versa. In this sense, to each other, the genders are the unknowns. In James Joyce's "Araby", a little boy is deeply infatuated and virtually enchanted by his friends' sister. He watched her and thought a lot about her, as was stated, "every morning I lay on the floor in the front parlour watching her doorÐ'...when she came out on the doorstep my heart leaped" (p.288 Echoes). This shows that the boy was deeply infatuated and obsessed with a girl he did not converse with. The boy was shy and "had never spoken to her" (p.288) He was simply drawn to her because of the fact that she was an unknown to him. She was a girl whom he did not completely comprehend and this intrigued him. In comparison, Nino Ricci's, "Going to the Moon" was also about a boy, who was attracted to a female. The little boy was deeply taken by his teacher who stood out significantly from all the others in the school run by nuns. Miss Johnson was described as a, "burst of colour in a grey landscape, coming to school in lipstick and high heels, in dress suits" (p. 213). The little boy was attracted to her as a female and because she stood out significantly. She was an unknown, an older female who has impact on him as a teacher. The little boys states, "I felt the small bright hope that my life could differentÐ'...by the love that I felt for our teacher Miss Johnson" (p.212). As a poor Italian boy living in Canada, he felt that Miss Johnson, the older wiser female that he was attracted could make a difference for him, since she was an unknown he was trying to get closer to.

Secondly, people are normally drawn to difference places that they wish to gain experiences or knowledge from. In both stories, the boys dream about going to particular places that they wouldn't normally go to. In "Araby" the little boy is drawn to a bazaar called Araby that he thought would be a great experience, because of the unknown factor. The boy imagined Araby as something grand, a completely new experience, "The syllables Araby were called to me through the silence in which my soul luxuriated and cast an Eastern enchantment over me" (p.289). This shows what the boy thought of the Bazaar, as an unknown thing to him. Similarly, in "Going to the Moon", the little boy had immigrated from Italy and lives in Canada. He believes Windsor to be a, "purgatory" (p.210) because across the river was a teasing image of Detroit in the USA, which to him seemed to be much better than his current residence. Detroit was an unknown place to the boy, which is why he was so drawn to it. The boy thought of Detroit as a "vague promise of the skyline that opened up beyond the Detroit