Young Love In James Joyce's Araby

The story Araby uses young love to showcase the harsh reality of desires being unobtainable. Araby is about a young boy that lives with his aunt and uncle, filled with innocence and ambitions, he also has a good friend, Mangan. Through various interactions with others, we see the main character as a playful child. Like many young boys, the narrator has a crush, and he’s crushing on his friend Mangan’s sister. The infatuation with Mangan’s sister is the catalyst for the change in the main character as he progresses from young boy to young man.
The main character in Araby starts off as an innocent young child filled with hope and playfulness. The youth of the narrator Is exemplified in the story “The cold air stung us and we played till our bodies glowed” (Joyce 1). Being young is being young no matter where you go nor the period in which a person lives, the tenacity to have fun and play is always there. Araby and its’ characters are no different in this regard, the young narrator showcases what innocence looks like by playing with friends until they couldn’t play anymore. Joyce demonstrates early on the adolescence because …show more content…
A chance appears as Mangan’s sister approaches the narrator, telling him to enjoy Araby in her stead because she can’t attend. The narrator as is stated in the story responds “‘If I go,’ I said, ‘I will bring you something’ “(Joyce 2). The narrator with his chance to impress his love interest is in this semi euphoric state that the young love causes. Before the despair and dreary emotions are onset, the climax must be reached. Joyce does a good job setting the story up with a positive outlook, similar to one’s feeling of giddy after their crush speaks to them with polite gestures. The bazaar known as Araby could be replaced with any event or festival, the author just wants to portray the transitions that young people go through regardless of