James Joyce "Araby" Character Analisys

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Life As A Young Boy In James Joyce’s story “Araby”, a young man finds first love and learns disappointment, all in the span of a few short days. How is it that such a story could be told, with such strength and vitality? This is a tale revolving almost solely around gender, specifically the narrator in the story. He’s a young boy, living on North Richmond Street, attending the Christian Brothers’ School, exploring the world around him. His friend Mangan has a sister who occasionally comes out to call her brother in for the night, and it is here that we discover the narrator’s fascination (if not infatuation) with this girl. He watches her longingly, “her figure defined by the light from the half-opened door…” and spends mornings watching her door, leaping to meet her and walk with her on the sidewalk on the way into school. Never does he speak to her, he only quickens his pace and passes her as she turns for her school, morning after morning. The very mention of her name stirs his passion: “…her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood…”, and he hides in an abandoned building, shaking, calling out to her “O love! O love!”, where no one but he can hear. When finally she speaks to him, his “foolish blood” steps up and begins his path towards disappointment and despair. When she asks if he is attending the upcoming bazaar, he utters “If I go, I will bring you something,” setting him off on his nigh-impossible quest. We soon discover that simply getting to the bazaar, for him, is quite the challenge, as he must secure permission (and money) from the aunt and uncle with whom he lives. As the days pass, he becomes more and more distracted, thinking about the bazaar, making it the sole focus of his efforts in an attempt to impress this girl with some small gift. When the day finally arrives, his uncle is so late returning home from work and finally
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