Every young boy in the world at one point or another finds himself infatuated with an older girl who to him seems within reach no matter how remote the true possibility is. In “Araby” the narrator finds himself on a quest to try and prove to his dream girl that he has what it takes to win her over. This task seems rather straightforward in nature but there is a lot more going on underneath the surface. The narrator is a young boy who still views the world through a lens of childhood naivety. Symbolically this quest of his is leading him to the moment when he sees the world with a more critical eye. He experiences his first true heartbreak when he is struck by the epiphany that the girl he is so twitter-pated with is doing no more than attempting to manipulate him to see how far he will go.
Along the way James Joyce implements a variety of symbolic images to add depth to the development of the character. One of the most striking ones is the idea of Richmond street which is specified as being both blind and a dead end. These attributes can be directly correlated with the boy for he is blinded by his perceived emotions for the girl. She is in actuality a complete dead end for him but he cannot see that because he has been blinded by “love.” He travels the length of his quest until he reaches the moment when he finally sees that there is no more road to trod and in this moment his eyes are opened.
The story also features a fair amount of religious imagery. The house in which the narrator lives was once owned by a priest who left books in a back room and kept an apple tree central to a wild garden. Priests possess a connotation of enlightenment and being people that help those who find themselves lost. The books this enlightener left all death with subjects of transformations and faith. The boy knows of them but his impressions are based upon their appearances and not their content which holds true to his visions of his infatuation with Mangen’s sister. He is tempted by her, just as Eve was by the apple in the garden which both happen to be present in his backyard. This is a striking reference to how tempted the narrator is by something that he should be pursuing. His apple is Mangen’s sister.
The sister herself is laced with imagery. At all times that she is present it is always mentioned that she is in the light. This light is always reflecting on the white clothing that she is wearing. This is a strong reference to the Virgin Mary. In the narrators eyes this girl is as beautiful and reverential as the Virgin Mary is to the clergy. It is only revealed as the story progresses however that this girl is nothing of the sort for she sees the power she has and uses it to procure what she desires from a boy who knows not of her intentions.
All of these things come together and reveal their meanings as the boy finds himself in the bazaar. His only reason for coming to this flea market was to get something for Mangen’s sister. He had no original interest in it but the idea that he could do something to win her favor was too great a draw. Only when he is standing in the half-empty, darkened marketplace does he realize what he has really found himself wrapped up in. The bazaar is nothing more than a compilation of stands selling tacky and useless things that hold no true value. This hits him at the same time he understands why the girl had asked him to go. Whether or not he had gotten her anything would hold no consequence in his quest to gain her favor. She is directly mirrored by the bazaar for they hold great allure until the sheen of exceptionality is removed.
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