Araby by James Joyce

Title

Characters

In the story, 'Araby' refers to an actual marketplace on the

outskirts of Dublin where the narrator as a young boy visits to
please the girl he likes. The 'Araby' in a literary sense, however,
refers to a romantic journey the boy has to take in order to fulfill
his romance with the girl. Thus 'Araby' is not just a marketplace
but a place of idealized wonder and romance to the narrator.
The irony in this story, however, is that 'Araby' is not what the
protagonist had expected to be. It is nothing like the idealized
place of romance he expected it to be but just an ordinary
marketplace with people obsessed with money. This element of
duality; the contrast between the ideal and the perceived
concept of Araby, is the significance of the title.
Main Characters:
Narrator: The narrator of the story is a young boy of
unspecified age, although young enough to attend the
neighborhood school. The narrator is a dynamic character,
driven by his dreams and ambitions, and as he
experiences his epiphany at the end of the novel,
develops a new perspective on life. He is determined to
speak to Mangan's sister, however he does not know how
to gather his courage to do. Once he gets to speak to
Mangan's sister, all his thoughts are centered around her
to the point that he doesn't listen in school anymore. At
the end of the story when the narrator arrives at the
bazaar, we realise there is something different about him.
He ends up being too shy to purchase anything and he is
disappointed at himself. Although he is the main
character, he is a flat character because we do not learn
much about him, only his intentions and desires.
Mangan's sister: Living across the street from the narrator
is 'Mangan's sister' (not given her actual name), the
sibling of the narrator's friend. She also is a child,
although it's suggested she's older than the narrator
(she's old enough to attend a convent). The narrator falls
in love with Mangan's sister, a love that drives the plot of
the story.
Narrator's uncle: While the narrator doesn't elaborate on
his home life, we know that he lives with his uncle and
aunt. We see both the uncle and aunt in the story (as well
as a few other adults), but the uncle factors most
significantly into the plot, by keeping the narrator from
attending the bazaar on time. He helps the narrator
realise that his needs to attend the bazaar were in fact

Themes/Mess
ages

fueled by his obsession with this girl and makes the

narrator blame himself for ever having believed that he
could find love, beauty, and enchantment
Secondary Characters
Narrator's aunt: The boys aunt is the one to understand
the narrator. She waits with him while the uncle is to come
home, although it puts back the time of the narrator's
leave to the bazaar. She can be interpreted as an
understanding woman who takes in the narrator's pain of
waiting for the money from his uncle. The important line
she says is " Can't you give him the money and let him
go? You've keep him late enough as it is." (18)
Mrs. Mercer: One of the family friends. She is seen only
once in the story and that is when the narrator comes
down the stairs from his room to check if his uncle has
returned home. Mrs. mercer is described to be an "old
garrulous women, a pawnbroker's widow, who collected
used stamps for some pious purpose." (18)
The Prison of Routine:
In Araby, The young boy wants to go to the bazaar to buy a gift
for the girl he loves, but he is late because his uncle becomes
mired in the routine of his workday. Supposedly forgetting all
about what the boy had told him. Acting casual about the
matter, the uncle concludes his act by handing the young boy
the train fare. "Araby" suggests that the prison of routine gets us
to forget about other things apart from work. The uncle even
notes the saying "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy".
The uncle seems to be subject to his own saying, since it
suggests that he works so much he forgets about other
important things in life.
The Frustration and Vanity of Love:
In Araby, Joyce suggests that all people experience frustrated
desire for love and new experiences. The boy indirectly learns an
important lesson about love and how it is exploited in the real
world for the benefit of consumerism. Vanity plays a big role in
the expression of love, not only as a child, but as an adult as
well. Human beings believe that through material things they
will win the love of someone they desire, when in reality, love
never works this way. The tedious events that delay the
narrators trip indicate that no room exists for love in the daily
lives of Dubliners, and the absence of love renders the
characters in the story almost anonymous. What could have
been a story of happy, youthful love becomes a tragic story of
defeat and disappointment.
You cant always get what you want
In this story the main character finds out the hard way that in

Symbolism

life you cant always get what you want. The narrator wanted the
mangran girl but what he found out was that he would never be
able to have her. First of all, she was going to be a nun (sister),
he never talked to her instead stalked her and lasley he never
got her the present from the bazar. He would never be able to
have what he wanted.
Forbidden Love
The main character in the story wants a love that he knows will
never happen. The love of his life is going to a convent. He
thinks that she is perfect for him and he thinks that it is love he
is feeling. In reality he has never really talked to her at all.
Age of Enlightenment
Nearing the end of the story we see a big change in the main
character. He comes to an epiphany and it is like a coming of
age. He finally understands that he will not get everything he
wants, everything will not always be great and perfect and that
there will be some bumps along the road.
See things the way they are
Loss of innocence
Love is blind
The narrator is blinded for his so called love that he doesnt see
all the signs that show him that it wont work out.
Disappointment
Set up to fail
His uncle didnt give him enough money to buy anything so he
was set up to fail. He learned that you can fail in life but you
cant give up.
Overwhelming passion
New experience
Patience
When the main characters uncle comes home really late, it
allows him to learn some patience. He is taught that you cant
have everything the moment you ask for it.
The color brown is used to draw a lot of attention to the
plainness and dreariness of London and is also used to
describe the figure of the Mangan girl, for she conjured up
for him images of the Middle East. In particular the people
of Arabia. But after he attends the bazaar, he no doubt
begins to associate the brownness of her figure with the
dreary brownness of Dublin.
Garden of the Priest = Garden of Eden from which the
priest and his religion emerged to labor in a less than
perfect world
Empty house: Two story dwelling at the end of North
Richmond Street. Joyce mentions it perhaps to suggest an
empty future awaiting the boys playing on the street

Mood/Tone

Ash pits: Perhaps symbols of the hellish life of many

Dubliners
Blind Street: Street that dead ends. In real life Dublins
North Richmond Street is a dead end, as Joyce points out
in the first four words of Araby perhaps to suggest that
the boys playing there are going nowhere. They will grow
up to live in the same dreary Dublin with its dreary
weather, dreary people and dreary houses. In the third
paragraph the narrator describes the depressing
atmosphere.
"Araby" features a tone of depression and gloom. The way
that James Joyce uses his descriptions of settings and
characters enhances the somberness of the stories.
However at times, there segments of dialogue that
become hopeful and almost cheerful. As the story
progresses, the main plot takes a turn to the brighter side
upon the authors description of the boys obsession with
his friends sister. For example, in the line "Her image
accompanied me even in places the most hostile to
romance" (16), we see that Joyce portrays the
cheerfulness and the bliss when the young boy is
watching his friends sister. Later on though, when the boy
reaches the bazaar as it is shutting down, the tone takes a
turn for the gloomy and leads the reader to the peak of a
young boys epiphany and following disappointments. It
ends on a depressing note, with the narrator standing in
the dark bazaar as it shut downs.