Short Stories and Real-Life Situations

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Short Stories and Real-Life Situations
Short stories are significant parts of literature that empower the readers by stimulating their senses and molding their judgment. Although these are just fictional accounts of the author's imagination or, possibly, his real-life experiences, these are based on his insights. Therefore, short stories directly or indirectly provide insights into the human situation. This paper aims to analyze some short stories and illustrate the delights and challenges in human life.
One of the short stories discussed in class was James Joyce's Araby. This is a story about an innocent boy who indulges in a young romance with a girl he liked from the streets. The girl, although described as young, was implied as older than the boy. His infatuation with the girl pushed him to find her a gift in a bazaar, where various presents can be found, including those of foreign origin. However, despite his obsessions over giving this girl a gift, he ultimately did not buy anything for her (Joyce).
The story of Araby shows a young boy's innocence and idealism. All of us wandered through these concepts when we were young. As we grew up, we had several experiences that made us understand that idealism comes with innocence. Once our young minds become tarnished by reality, idealism becomes anything but genuine. For example, as a child, we are taught to go to school, be good people, and accomplish these things smoothly, then we will become successful in life. However, in reality, it does not happen. Life is not a straight line. It has many curvatures that can be sharp or blunted, and all of us need to figure out how to overcome each obstacle found there. We will begin by going to school. Initially, the lessons are easy, but these become harder as we step up to one level of education. On top of these, we will face many other factors such as problems in the family, social interaction, finances, and others. Therefore, the ideological straight line toward success can never happen because life will always surprise us with its challenges.
Similarly, this can also be applicable to love. As a child, we watched love stories based on animated films. The romance presented there was always ideal, and it does not show the negative aspects of love, including jealousy and obsession. Joyce (1922) described that the boy's infatuation over the girl in Araby is based on idealism, where he believes that the gift shall answer his longing for her. This situation is similar to what we feel with our crushes as kids. In the story, the boy did not consider possible rejection or boredom when he wins her heart, which happens in reality as one grows up. The author did not rampantly make the boy realize that idealism does not apply to everything. However, as the story ends, he gradually understood what it truly meant.
Similarly, Eveline is another short story written by James Joyce. This is a story about a girl who is confined to a prison called home. Her father was very traditional and strict when it comes to her welfare. Her father was violent and often engaged in aggressive actions even when she was a child. There was a time when she remembered how her father interfere...