Araby, By James Joyce

James Joyce’s , “Araby”, is a story of a boy who lives in Dublin, Ireland. The story revolves around the boy’s crush on his friend’s sister. His love for Mangan’s sister leads the boy on an adventure to the bazaar. Upon arriving at the bazaar he comes to the tragic realization that his actions have been naive and immature. This is the overall theme of the story. Joyce weaves this theme through out the story by describing the area in which the boy lives, and his actions resulting from the affection for his friend’s sister. In the first paragraph Joyce describes the boy’s neighborhood how he feels toward it. The boy is gloomy and enclosed in darkness due to his surroundings. This is visible in the descriptions; “ North Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street. An uninhabited house of two storeys stood at the blind end, detached from its neighbours.” Joyce then goes on to say, “The other houses of the street, conscious of decent lives within them, gazed at one another with brown imperturbable faces.” This creates an image of dullness, gloominess, and stillness. However, there is something that brings happiness and excitement to the boy’s world. Mangan’s sister brings excitement to the boy’s world. Every time he catches a glimpse of her his “heart leaps.”
His crush is more physical than emotional. We know this because the boy “had never spoken to her” so he doesn’t know what kind of person she is. “I did not know whether I would ever speak to her or not or, if I spoke to her, how I could tell her of my confused adoration. But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires.” Eventually, the girl speaks to him. The girl asked him if he was going to the Araby. He is so excited that she’s talking to him that he forgets his reply. The girl suggests that he should go, and he says that he’ll bring her back