Darkness In The Short Story Araby

In the short story “Araby” written by James Joyce, a young boy is growing up in Ireland and living with his aunt and uncle. The boy is battling the love and passion he has for a young girl. Joyce 's story “Araby” portrays the frightening darkness a boy possesses in his life, how the girl becomes the boys light, and how life is not as simple as it may seem.

The boy in the story posses a frightening darkness. While he awaits his uncle 's arrival home, the boy pases the hallways upstairs. He claims that “The high, cold, empty, gloomy rooms liberated me and I went from room to room singing” This shows that the boy is comfortable with the darkness.(Joyce) As the boy is at the bazaar he claims that “Nearly all the stalls were closed and the

As the boy is walking through the market with his aunt, he mentions “the flaring streets, jostled by drunken men and bargaining women.”(Joyce) Throughout the busy streets the boy “imagined that I bore my chalice safely through a throng of foe” implying that he feels as if he has something to protect, to look forward to while he drowns out the busyness of the streets.(Joyce) As the boy is sitting in the back room where the priest had died, he talks about how “It was a dark rainy evening.” (Joyce) While he is sitting in the dark quiet room with nothing but the sound of the rain, the boy starts to think of the girl. He says that “All my senses seemed to desire to veil themselves” indicating that he is thinking of the girl in such a strong passionate way. (Joyce) He then goes on to say, “and, feeling that I was about to slip from them, I pressed the palms of my hands together until they trembled, murmuring: "O love! O love!" many times.”(Joyce) Eventually the girl talks to the boy. The boy offers to buy her something from araby. His excitement to go to the bazaar and purchase something for the girl is immense. the boy states that he “wished to annihilate the tedious intervening days.”(Joyce) Buying the girl something from the bazaar gave the boy some sort of satisfaction and comfort, in the uncomfortable darkness of his own life.

The things that people think are important in life, are not always what really matters. James Joyce “Araby” shows us how a boy struggles through a