James Joyce's Araby

In James Joyce's Araby, a young man is beginning to mature and with that maturity comes a growing sense of interest in the opposite sex. His interest in Mangan's daughter becomes a mythical and magical experience for him. This experience makes him focus on Araby, the place where he believes his dreams will come true. The young man hopes to find a present worthy of his object of affection at Araby, where a bazaar is being held. Eventually, the young man will arrive in Araby, only to find the location where he thought his dreams would come true is an empty and unfulfilling place. He decides his "stay was useless" and views himself as "a creature driven and derided by vanity" (Joyce 45-46). Joyce uses religious symbols throughout the text as a way of showing that the young man's maturity is a journey of faith, one that leaves him disillusioned by the failure of his dreams to materialize.

The young narrator in Araby is determined to go to Araby to find a present for his object of affection. He associates Araby with a mystical and magical place where dreams come true. The story opens with our learning that the

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Category: Literature - J