Araby By James Joyce

Writers often portray their views through the stories they write. In the short story “Araby” by James Joyce, an adolescent boy becomes enamored with his friend’s sister. The story takes place in Dublin Ireland. The narrator recalls his love for the girl and how he would get glimpses of her. The boy never talks with her until one day when she asked him if he was going to the bazaar named Araby. The girl could not go to the bazaar so the boy insisted he will go and get her a gift from the bazar. The boy lived with his uncle who came home late the evening of the bazar. When the boy arrived to Araby, he realized he does not have enough money to buy her a gift. Joyce closes the story by letting the readers know the boy feels pain and anger in regards to the situation he is in. Joyce perceives Dublin life to be desolate, obsolete and despondent as depicted in his short story, “Araby”.
The story opens with a description of a Dublin street, North Richmond Street. The narrator describes the street as, “being blind, was a quiet street…an unihabitated house of two storeys stood at the blind end, detached from its neighbours” (Joyce 1). The location of the house and the neighborhood is depicted as dark and isolated and reflects the overall environment of Dublin. The house was formerly owned by a priest and should have been an important house on the street but instead it is described to be isolated. The reader can deduce that North Richmond Street is a microcosm for all of Dublin life. The effect of such a setting in “Araby: is an atmosphere permeated with isolation. Joyce’s view of Dublin life in the short story is that it is