Other characters serve as more direct and specific symbols in the story. Mrs. Mercer, the guest of the narrator's aunt on the evening that the narrator finally manages to get to the bazaar, is one such character. She, like the narrator, has been waiting for the narrator's uncle to return, and both expected him much earlier than he eventually appears. Mrs. Mercer, in fact -- a "garrulous woman, a pawnbroker's widow," as she is described -- eventually leaves, not wanting to be out at night. The freedom that this otherwise pathetic-seeming woman enjoys heightens the frustration that the narrator himself feels while waiting for his uncle, and symbolizes the workings of the adult world that completely ignore and discount the narrator's own feelings due to his youth. His sexual frustration is in part due to the lack of importance and adequacy...
The bazaar itself, Araby, symbolizes the secret and unknown treasures that the narrator's sexuality promises to reveal at some point. This is what the narrator is seeking throughout the story -- he is trying desperately to get to Araby, for the purposes of buying a gift and staking his claim on his love -- and the bazaar's association with the East ties it to exoticism and excitement quite explicitly in the tale. The eventual disappointment that the narrator feels is deeply personal and painful because of the full symbolic depth of his failure.
Benstock notes because "Araby" is narrated in first-person "Araby," we are experiencing what life might have been like for Joyce as a young boy. The boy, while we do not know his age, is still young enough to be influenced by certain "larger than life" images of the girl and the priest. Barnhisel maintains that the narrator in this story is a "sensitive boy, searching for principles with which
Importance of the setting in understanding the story A successful story needs to have several components linked together in order to help the reader build up the story in their minds. The setting of a story is one of the powerful elements that are often used as a link of symbolism between the character and his life. It sets the mood for the story as well as depicts the mental state
"I had never spoken to her," he admits (30). When finally he does he is at a loss for words. "When she addressed the first words to me I was so confused that I did not know what to answer," (31). He communicates better in a fantasy world, just as he sees better in his fantasy world: "Her name sprang to my lips at moments in strange prayers and
While we are shown the fact that Sammy, ogles the girls and makes a queen of the leader. On one hand while he feels no pang in doing so he is disgusted by the butcher's lustful gaze. (Saldivar, 214) There is rebellion when the manager who is a puritan rebukes the girls. The only outrage that the manager, Lengel, seem to have done is to make the queen blush. Thus
He realizes that this infatuation for Mangan's sister is an illusion, and simply a wistful idea that serves as escape from his discontentment: "I lingered before her stall, though I knew my stay was useless, to make my interest in her wares seem more real. Then I turned away slowly and walked down the middle of the bazaar" (Joyce *). He allows the coin to fall from his pocket,
extend the lines, if necessary, without being wordy. Three specific instances of irony in "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" are: a) ____The title: no one ever asks Connie these questions. b) ____Connie is the one preyed upon in this tale, but she invites in this demonic provocation. c) Arnold Friend's remark about holding her so tight she won't try to get away because it will be impossible, is an ironic
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