Lorianny Neris, Discussion 5

The young boy in the story “Araby” by Joyce, can be described as an innocent, sensitive, impulsive and attentive boy. At the beginning of the story, one can see how the boy pays attention to every detail of everything in his surroundings, such as the streets and the person who lived there before him and his belongings. This demonstrates he was attentive. He noticed every little detail and described it as it was. He also was so sensitive, the way he acted every time he saw the girl he liked are examples of his sensitivity. He felt some kind of mixed emotions, felt so nervous and cried without explanation, he could barely speak to her. There are a few examples that show us he was so vulnerable and had intense feelings. This also shows he was so innocent, he didn’t know what he felt and didn’t know how to control his emotions. Also, his feelings for his friend’s older sister made him make some desperate decisions because all he wanted was that she liked him back so he wanted to get her a gift. In some scenes one can observe the boy’s behavior as an impatient person, such as when he was supposed to go to the bazaar to get the girl a gift, and his aunt told him “he may put his bazaar off for that night” (Araby), and he took the money and left. This is an example of the boy being impulsive. At the end of the story, he gets angry and frustrated by the fact that he was late to the bazaar and couldn’t get anything for the girl. This situation opened his eyes and he realizes he’s obsessed with her and if it wasn’t because of that he wouldn’t be so desperate to get the gift to impress her, and all he felt was physical attraction, not love.