Journey In Araby And A Worn Path

An American pantomime actor, Danny Kaye, once said that “To travel is to take a journey into yourself.” In literature, moreover, the journey can be used as an effective tool to progress the main story and imply the main themes. Through dividing the journey into the purpose, process, and result, one can see how the authors used the theme of “journey” in their stories such as “Araby,” “Young Goodman Brown,” and “A worn Path.” In purpose wise, the goals of three stories’ protagonists are all different. In Araby, the nameless boy’s goal is to buy something from Araby for Mangan’s sister, but in Young Goodman brown, his purpose of the journey is not explicit in the story. In metaphorical sense, however, reader may assume that the journey was already planned and that Goodman brown trying to test his faith during the journey. In “A worn Path,” the female protagonist, Phoenix Jackson, has an explicit goal in her journey. Her purpose is to achieve her ill grandson’s life-saving medicine. She is unique in a way that her goal is not her own self-interest.

Araby and A Worn Path are very similar in a way that they are both creating an image about the mythic archetype, Knight, and the Holy grail. They both have certain obstacles that bother their quests. For example, in Araby, drunken tardy uncle, slow train, and discouraging attitude of the clerks make the boy fail the quest to buy something in the Araby. Also, obstinate hill that shackles Phoenix’s feet, thorny bush, barbed wire, and white hunter try to deter the journey of Pheonix. However, the process of journey in Young Goodman Brown differs in a sense that he does not have a specific goal. Goodman Brown is being skeptical about his faith as he goes deep into the