Kiara Gonzalez Discussion Board 5

In “Araby” by James Joyce, I would describe the narrator as naive. The narrator became obsessive over his crush and began to devote his days into winning her love by any means necessary. The narrator describes his mental state as unable to focus when he says, ” I had hardly any patience with the serious work of life which, now that it stood between me and my desire” (Joyce paragraph 12). This affects the character in the end because he goes to the bazaar in order to look for a gift for his crush and he becomes disillusioned after realizing that he couldn’t find anything good to buy. This is what makes the narrator naive, because he believes that he can buy his lover’s love when love between two people should be based on the connection versus the materialistic. The narrator comes into age after experiencing his first disappointment in life, which is love, and this affects him because in the end, he sees himself as “ creature driven and derided by vanity” (Joyce 37). This affects the narrator because now he feels like his chance of winning his crush is over due to the masculine pressure to provide, which he failed to do.