Tamar Abelson Discussion 5

The coming-of-age story “Araby” by James Joyce is about a young teenage boy who has a crush on his neighbor, Mangan’s sister. The story’s setting is dark and gloomy Dublin, and when the narrator tells us about Mangan’s sister he writes about it as he is charmed and fascinated by her, she is like a light in all the darkness. I chose to use the word crush because he didn’t really know her or even talk to her but he had strong feelings maybe even an obsession with her. Finally, she spoke with him and asked if he’s going to Araby. She said she would go there if she could but unfortunately, she can’t, and then the narrator promised her that if he will go he will bring her something when he is back. Going to the bazaar wasn’t very important for him until he made this promise to her. We can see that it is really important for him to go there since he doesn’t want to disappoint her. The story ended up with his disappointment that he didn’t make it on time to the bazaar. When he finally got there most of the stalls were already closed and it was mostly dark. He was very eager to go there; reminding his aunt and uncle about it, and walking up and down the stairs impatiently while his uncle was late. This is why when things did not go as he expected he was upset and angry.