Comparative Analysis on Characterization of Araby and The Mark on the Wall

【Abstract】： James Joyce and Virginia Woolf are the great masters in the literary trend of modernism. They focus on detailed portrayal of characters when they begin to create their literary works. This article will compare the characterization of Araby and The Mark on the Wall from the theme and portrayal of individuals.

【Key words】： Short Stories； Theme； Portrayal of Individuals

Introduction： The Irish novelist James Joyce devoted himself to the spiritual liberation of Irish people all through his life. In this brief short story Araby， the social status in Dublin， the pervasive living conditions in Irish， even the life and fortune of human beings can be penetrated. The Mark on the Wall does not describe the settings of the story but directly into the character’s inner heart.

1.Influences of realistic and mental world on the development of theme

In Araby， the author shows a picture of dirty environment in Dublin which is the direct reason of the little boy’s emotional depression. While in The Mark on the Wall， Woolf attracts readers’ eyes directly to the main character’s mental world instead of offering information of the outside surroundings.

1.1The importance of environmental description in Araby

The first paragraph of this article take readers into a dead， dirty and lethargy city， such as “being blind”， “quiet street”， “uninhabited house”， and “imperturbable faces”. The author tries to reveal the atmosphere of the church has shrouded every corner of the whole society. The ending of this short story emphasize it again. “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity， and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.”

1.2 The detailed psychological description in The Mark on the Wall

In The Mark on the Wall， Woolf pays more attention to the psychological world of the character not mentioning the settings and environment. It is just the small mark on the wall arises the woman’s imagination without boundary. From the former tenant， a small rose leaf to a crack in the mood， the woman can not control her mind. Scholars are descendants of witches and hermits. The train of thought becomes fragmental and disorder.

2. The Detailed Portrayal of Individuals

Joyce explores a spiritual journey of the character to convey the little boy’s growing， while Woolf uses a net form to exhibit a series of complex consciousness， feeling， image and delusion.

2.1 The detailed characterization in Araby

In Araby， Joyce describes the little boy’s spiritual journey very detailed to reveal the boy’s maturity and growth. It is a typical short story to reflect the process of growing of the little boy’s inner heart. The little boy’s name “I”， an anonym， who has no distinctive character， incarnates every immature man in this village. What’s important is he is unconscious of living in chaos. In his mind， love is pure and holy. However， the dirty environment and the cold atmosphere of the market destroy all his innocent dream of love.

2.2 Detailed psychological description reflects the mental activities

In The Mark on the Wall， Woolf focuses on characterizing the woman’s complicated spiritual world. He chooses the mark on the wall as the main point， and let the character’s mind spread far away around the mark， which arouses the inexhaustible imagination of the past， the present and the future， containing literature， history， culture， civilization， religion and so on. The character’s imagination shows a scattered state of random regardless of time and space. Woolf uses the form of net to present the character’s inner world with the thinking spreading out to a far place around the main point， that is， the mark on the wall.

Conclusion

James Joyce is the master of the stream of consciousness while Virginia Woolf is one of the great masters of modernism. In Araby， he shows us the paralyzed life in Dublin. Since most of his works are dealing with the inside of human nature， he uses his unique artistic technique of detailed description of psychology. Virginia Woolf’s The Mark on the Wall shows a complicated and numerous imagination of the main character. Trough the detailed description of psychological world， readers still can have an entire view of the main character’s mental activities.

Biography

【1】Scholos， Robert and A. Walton Litz， eds. The Viking Critical Literary： James Joyce， Dubliners【M】. New York： The Viking Press， 1969.

【2】李維屏. 英美意識流小說【M】上海：上海外語教育出版社， 2000.

【3】孫紅洪. 從《墻上的斑點》看弗吉尼亞·伍爾夫的意識流寫作【J】國際關系學院學報，1998，（1）：18-19.