“Araby” by James Joyce is not a love story. It is a story about a boy who is growing up and his fascination and obsession with his friend’s older sister. He speaks to her hardly ever in the story. The main interaction that the two of them share is when she talks about the Dublin bazaar that is happening that she wants to attend but can’t because of her school. The main character finally comes to terms with the fact that she is talking to him, he lies and says that he was planning on going and will get something for her. The only other times he says her is when she calls her brother in for dinner. Or when he would watch her from afar. There is no real connection between the two of them. He watches her and follows her around time. He thinks about her and how he would approach her as a way to escape from the monotonous day-to-day of his school work and home life with his Aunt and Uncle. This is the story of a young boy’s obsessive crush, not one of two people in love.
