Comparing Araby and Lust

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Joyce’s Araby begins as a story about a young boy and his first love, his neighbor referred to in the story as Mangan's sister. However, the young boy soon turns his innocent love and curiosity into a much more intense desire, transforming this female and his journey to the bazaar into something much more intense and lustful. From the beginning, Joyce paints a picture of the neighborhood in which the boy lives as very dark and cold. Even the rooms within his house are described as unfriendly, "Air, musty from having long been enclosed, hung in all the rooms, and the waste room behind the kitchen was littered with old and useless papers.” The young boy sees all of this unpleasant setting around him, and we see Mangan’s sister portrayed as being above all that, almost as the one and only bright spot and positive thing in his life.
The first sign of the boy’s true desire and love for this girl occurs when he is sitting in his room almost day dreaming of the girl. With the boy’s quote “But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires,” it is obvious that this girl has intense control over the young boy even before they interact in any direct form. His life and emotions are completely tied up with this girl and he finds it hard to live his everyday life because of that. Once he has his encounter with the girl and they discuss the upcoming bazaar, his desire and focus c...

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