The Theme of Quest Explored in “Araby” and Atonement

In James Joyce’s “Araby and Ian McEwan’s Atonement both authors express that that the characters mature and grow through quests. In Joyce’s “Araby” the boy goes on a quest to the bazaar to meet Managan’s sisters whom he is very interested in. However, because he is a young boy and does not leave his much, and has no source of income there are limitations on his freedom, which ultimately affect his quest. In McEwan’s Atonement Briony goes through a life near long quest in an attempt to repair the damage in which she inflicted on her sister Cecelia, Robbie and her family. However, similar to the predicament the boy from Joyce’s “Araby” goes through, Briony is never able to formally
Throughout much of her adult life Briony is on quest to make things right between her Cecelia Robbie and the rest of her family. As stated by Peter Mathews in his “The Impression of Deeper Darkness: Ian McEwan’s Atonement” “It is her torturous longing for atonement that places Briony in a kind of psychological “hell.” McEwan symbolizes this agony in a subtle but consistent foregrounding of the symbolic number three”. (Mathews 156) In this quote Mathews is telling the reader that throughout Briony’s quest she is being tortured because she fails to personally make amends to all those whom she hurt when she blatantly lied about what really happened that night with Robbie. However, because she was tortured for so long during her quest she has grown and matured because of it.
In both “Araby and Atonement the theme of quest plays a major role in the development and maturity in both Briony and the boy. Through their experiences on their quests both characters grew and matured from adolescent children into adults. In the case of Briony she grows on her quest through suffering because she will never have the chance to make amends with Cecilia and Robbie because they each died prematurely. In the case of the boy in “Araby” he grows through expressing his independence to go to the bazaar with Managan’s sister. In the end each both Briony and the boy both grow as people as a result of their