Infatuation In Araby

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Araby by James Joyce is a short story about a boy who has a crush on his friend’s sister, and will do anything to make her like him as well. He journeys to the bazaar to find a prized possession for his love, but only arrives to realize that his actions are nothing, but immature. Though this is the final realization of the young boy, the author spends most of the story vividly writing about the feelings the boy has and his reactions, up till his tragic realization. Joyce describes the boy’s perspective on his home town and shows the disgust the boy has for his boring daily life. The author then suddenly shows the excitement and power that the girl brings and has over the boy. His infatuation causes him to act without thinking and rationale. …show more content…

Joyce emphasizes the moral that, things do not necessarily turn out the way you would like it to. The author also wrote the story is such a manner to portray that love is doomed in the world flawed with materialism. By describing the boy’s excitement before venturing to the bazaar, and his reaction during his venture, the author directly displays the main moral of the story. Also, without his infatuation for the girl, the boy would not have realized this lesson, and the foolishness of his actions. He finally came to realize that he cannot assume that by buying an object for the girl, will force her to fall deeply in love, as things may not go to his liking. Ultimately, the young boys’ expectations fall short, just as his expectations for the bazaar does when he arrives.
Overall, the story Araby is interesting in and out of itself. There are several lessons to be learned depending on the perspective of the reader. James Joyce did a phenomenal job in portraying that just as the boy realized he went to the bazaar in vain, it is probably the same with the girl. Simply, the readers are able to clearly realize that the author’s intent was to make the boy realize that the girl may not be all that the boy accepts, just as the bazaar

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