“Araby” is a short story in a collection of fifteen called Dubliners. It was written by James Joyce between 1904 and 1907 but was not published until 1914. A young boy who describes his life on North Richmond Street narrates it.
He and his friends in the Christian Brothers’ School play every evening until their families call them in. Sometimes his friend Mangan’s sister comes out to call Mangan in. He feels very passionately drawn to her in some way. One day she talks to him and asked him if he is going to a bazaar called Araby. A bazaar is a fair or some kind of store where you can buy certain goods. She really wanted to go with him to the bazaar, but she couldn’t because she had a retreat in her convent school that night. A convent school is a religious school. Even though she cannot go he tells her he will bring her something back if he does end up going. That night he gets almost no sleep because he was thinking about Mangan’s sister. He is thinking about the possibilities of bringing something back for her from the Araby bazaar. The next day he asks his aunt and uncle if he can go and they tell him its ok to go. His uncle comes home late that night but still lets him go to the bazaar and gives him some money. He takes a train to the bazaar, but by the time he gets there it is almost closing time, so most of the stalls are empty. He then finds himself in a porcelain stall where there is a young English lady talking to two young men, but he is unable to buy anything. The story ends with the boy being very angry and distressed with not being able to find anything to buy.
The Homework on Why Do We Need To Go To School?
Good morning, class! Today, I am here to tutor you because your professor can not attend the class. Continuing the last dialogue, today’s topic is the supporting reasons about why we really need to go to school. In this meeting, I will cover some points, which are the things that schools offer us and the pro and contra about home schooling and internet-schooling. Well class, what do you ...
The atmosphere being set here by Joyce is that of an awakening in a boy’s life. This awakening is the attraction that a boy acquires for a girl, both emotional and physical. His feelings for Mangan’s sister are almost uncontrollable. He can’t do much except feel and follow them. With these feelings he wants to escape his household in search for independence, to follow his feeling for Mangan’s sister into the adult world. Going to the Araby bazaar in a way represents independence and adulthood. But when he gets there, he is unable to buy any of the vases and bottles he sees. The English men and women pay almost no attention to him, and he feels out of place while he is there. But what bothers him more than anything else is the thought of returning to Mangan’s sister empty-handed after promising her that he would get her something at the bazaar.
Even though this was a relatively short story, it is still filled with important information. It’s good to see a story about a boy moving out of childhood and into adulthood. He obviously has a lot of emotions running through his mid when he talks to or thinks about Mangan’s sister. It is a good story about a boy who is becoming mature and getting to know who he really is.
