Araby By James Joyce

In the text Araby by James Joyce, Joyce juxtaposes the dark setting with Mangan’s illuminated sister to show the difference between the boy’s reality and his deceptive imagination. This is important since it highlights the dangers of trusting . The setting is described nothing but drab and darkness: “An uninhabited house of two storeys stood at the blind end… When the short days of winter came, dusk fell before we had well eaten our dinners. When we met in the street the houses had grown sombre. The space of sky above us was the colour of ever-changing violet and towards it the lamps of the street lifted their feeble lanterns.” whereas Mangan’s sister was a figure of light. Joyce associates Mangan’s sister with light all throughout the story of Araby she is

This light that surrounds Mangan’s sister contrasts the darkness that surrounds the narrator :“we watched her from our shadow peer up and down the street … She was waiting for us, her figure defined by the light from the half-opened door” (Page 1) The narrator depicts himself in the shadows while she is defined by light. This is the first time that Mangan’s sister is introduced in the story. By having Mangan’s sisters figure defined by light it is clear that she is an important in the narrator’s life. The light that she emits resonates with the narrator so much so that the narrator develops a crush on her. As he is a young boy this is most likely his first time having a crush as he is confused about his feelings for her: “My eyes were often full of tears (I could not tell why) and at times a flood from my heart seemed to pour itself out into my bosom. I thought little of the future. I did not know whether I would ever speak to her or not or, if I spoke to her, how I could tell her of my confused adoration.” The narrator is just a young boy who knows he has feeling for his friend’s sister but doesn’t how to deal with these feelings. This is a important to show because Mangan’s sister is the symbol of