Chapter 7: "...Or the Bible"

     As Foster states several times, all stories are derived from other stories. No story is completely original. The Bible is most likely the most alluded to book out there. Foster comments on several biblical allusions in the short story, "Araby," by James Joyce. However, there are several other examples he did not mention in this chapter. He touches briefly on the relation between "Araby" and the Bible story of Adam and Eve but does not venture into the details of that tale that relate specifically to the short story. In "Araby," the boy strongly desires his friend, Mangan's, sister, but she has decided to join a convent. This makes her unavailable, but the boy still longs for her although he knows he can never have her; much like the forbidden fruit that tempts Eve. He fails to avoid her due to his unavoidable admiration for her and gives into the temptation of continuing to want her to love him.

       A large biblical reference is the way the boy views the girl. Mangan's sister, to him, is God. He admires her unconditionally, even though she is rarely physically present in the story. When she is and finally speaks to him it seems as though he is imagining the whole thing; he barely remembers the encounter and it appears unreal. She is more of a referenced spirit in the story instead of a physical being. The boy even prays to her, as stated in the story, "All my senses seemed to desire to veil themselves and, feeling that I was about to slip from them, I pressed of my hands together until they trembled, murmuring: 'O love! O love!' many times." (Joyce) He is not certain about why he loves her or how it happened, but he does not question it and continues to admire and devote himself to her.

       The boy also describes Mangan's sister as his chalice, which relates to the Holy Grail in the Bible. He says, "I bore my chalice safely through a throng of foes," as she is the guide for him on his quest to get her a gift and earn her love. He struggles to get the gift at the bazaar as it is about to close and is unsure of what to get her, and he is also disgusted by some flirtatious behavior he witnesses. But he is willing to do anything to please his "chalice" and goes on this supposed great journey by following her, like, once again, she is God. Many other biblical references that Foster also did not mention fill the story of "Araby," but these few are important and clear.