Araby All my senses seemed to desire to veil themselves and, feeling that I was about to slip from them, I pressed the palms of my hands together until they trembled, murmuring: "O love! O love!" many times." (92) Most human beings have experienced their first love or crush in many profound ways. In James Joyce's Araby, a young preteen boy in the dreary neighborhood of Dublin in the late nineteenth century narrates his ongoing infatuation for his best friend's sister and the mystique of Araby; the exotic bazaar. With the boy's great expectations and a quest for love comes the revelation of disenchantment and a loss of innocence. The many symbols of Araby paint a rich picture of meaning. "North Richmond Street being blind", is a real street that is a dead end which symbolizes the boys hopelessness as to be going no where.(91) Being blind also foreshadows being blinded by the light. The light vs. dark symbolism is prevalent throughout the boy's quest. “The street light from the kitchen windows had filled the areas”.(91) The dark, blind street also represents as a symbol for Ireland. So here the light becomes a symbol for the country’s future. The boys neighborhood is dark and "brown" drawing attention to the plainness and dreariness of Dublin. (91)He also uses brown to describe the figure of his crush. The "bicycle pump", rusting in the backyard is the decay of Roman Catholicism.(91) The dead priest's home lingers a restraint on the boy. The priest is a symbol of Roman Catholicism in Ireland, and the description of the room where he died reveals, "Air, musty from having been long enclosed, hung in all the rooms, and the waste room behind the kitchen was littered with old useless papers." (91) The stagnant air symbolizes the strong Catholic presence that represses the boys desires. "I imagined that I bore my chalice safely through a throng of foes." (92) The chalice is seen as the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail or Araby which he seeks puts himself on a crusade to win her love. The "wild garden" in which the dead priest used to own had a "central apple-tree" which represents the Garden of Eden and the story of Adam and Eve.(91) The apple-tree is like the forbidden fruit that Adam or the boy is enchanted by. And of course Araby, the name of a bazaar symbolizes the mystique and allure of the exotic Middle East. As something that “casts an Eastern enchantment” over the narrator, the bazaar is an obvious symbol of something foreign and therefore unattainable, much like Mangan’s sister, who invites the boy to attend.(93) When he crosses the river to attend the bazaar it is as if he is crossing into an exotic world to explore on behalf of his fair lady. But his trip to the bazaar disappoints and disillusions him, enlightening him to the harsh reality of his life. The setting of late nineteenth century Dublin neighborhood poses a backdrop of impoverished gloominess that shapes the boy's character and motivations. The career of our play brought us through the dark muddy lanes behind the houses where we ran the gauntlet of the rough tribes from the cottages, to the back doors of the dark dripping gardens where odours arose from the ashpits, to the dark odorous stables where a coachman smoothed and combed the horse or shook music from the buckled harness.(91)
The child’s depressing lifestyle impacts his feelings. Meeting Mangan's sister gives him hope to escape his mediocre reality. One evening I went into the back drawing-room in which the priest had died. It was a dark rainy evening and there was no sound in the house. Through one of the broken panes I heard the rain impinge upon the earth, the fine incessant needles of water playing in the sodden beds. Some distant lamp or lighted window gleamed below me. I was thankful that I could see so little.(92)
The lighted window that gleamed is the ray of light that shines high spirits for the boy. Once basking in the light, he reencounters the darkness and silence, this time of Araby.
"Nearly all the stalls were closed and the greater part of the hall was in darkness. I recognised a silence like that which pervades a church after service.(94) Walking timidly, he has a hard time remembering why he came. His impending fate remains in the shadows. There is inner and external conflict for the boy. After he meets his friend's sister, he suddenly changes and the inner conflict begins. 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. (92)
His inner conflict of romance makes him infatuated of the girl. The narrator contends with external forces that inhibit and oppress him. These forces include socio-economic and religious influence. To the narrator's perceptions, his external world is obstructed by his Uncle forgetting to give him money. As the boy waits for his Uncle to return home, his impatience gets the best of him. When I came home to dinner my uncle had not yet been home. Still it was early. I sat staring at the clock for some time and. when its ticking began to irritate me, I left the room.(93)
The boy's inner conflict with love and his spiritual values intertwine. When he sees Mangan's sister in the light it is as if she is a holy angel. Mangan's sister's flirtation leads him to realize that the bazaar is a place of desired lust and materialism rather than a reawakened spirituality. He then realizes his own vanity and naiveté. The boy's epiphany makes him feel humiliated and angry. But even this shows that he is very inexperienced and too hard on himself. Most people share these difficult changes during adolescence, and most of us experience misguided crushes. The loss of innocence leading to one's discovery of a disappointing reality is clearly seen through his decision of not purchasing a gift. As the bazaar closes, and the lights go out, the boy's great expectations of Araby are extinguished. "Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.(95) To the boy, Araby and the girl are the same person and place. But in this story, the girl’s name hasn’t been revealed. Why? Was the girl just a figment of his imagination? At the end with his epiphany, The boy's reality remains living on the blind street, but maybe next time he will return to Araby with a revived hope and a second chance on love.