How Does James Joyce Use Figurative Language In Araby

"Araby" written by James Joyce is a short story about a young boy through his journey to adulthood. The story is in first person point of view. But it doesn’t give the impression that a boy is telling the story, instead the narrator gives a sense of being an adult. In his journey the boy falls in love with his friend's older sister and tries to impress her by going to a bazaar and buying her a gift. This will be the main plot of the short story. The author presents the setting and characters by using an extensive use of figurative language like imagery, symbolisms and metaphors through the essay. Figurative language is effectively use to help the readers imagine the feelings and situations of the characters. Joyce used of figurative language in the short story is to created a dramatic, vivid and interesting imagery than just using literal language.
At the beginning the author use of imagery helps the reader get a sense and description of the street where he grew up and the house where he used to live. North Richmond Street is describe as blind, quiet and dark. The neighborhood is presented as isolated, detached and empty. "The other houses of the street,

Joyce uses a few religious symbolism in the short story. First he writes " I imagined that I bore my chalice safely through a throng of foes". A chalice is the cup used in Christian ceremony, which can be a sacred symbol for the church. The author when describing the way the boy thinks of Mangan's sister uses the symbolism of a chalice to describe how much he worships her and how sacred she had become to him. Secondly he uses a religious symbolism to describe the admiration he has for the girl. "But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon wires" The harp being a religious instrument in comparison to an instrument of her