"Araby" is about a young boy and his first experience with love.

Araby is the story of a young boy who is attracted to his friend's older sister. The girl, who is probably much older, is unattainable. The boy experiences the feelings of love for the first time. The boy, who is raised in a strict Catholic family, adores his love from a distance. He is constantly thinking about the girl. His thoughts of her interfere with his school work, and are present in every aspect of his life. The girl doesn't really notice him. When the girl does finally notice him, she expresses her sadness in not being able to attend the Araby bazaar. The boy sets out on a quest to get a gift for the girl. During the boy's quest in the story he feels anxiety, hope, anguish, and anger.

The boy's initial feeling of anxiety is when he first sees her as an object of his desire. He feels ashamed by his earlier inability to communicate with the girl.

"Araby" sheet music (page 2 of 5)

The Narrator

"Araby" sheet music (page 3 of 5)

The simple conversation he has with the girl about the bazaar compels him to guide all his thoughts toward the girl and the wonder of a gift for her from the bazaar. The feeling of hope is evident while he waits for his uncle to return to give him the money to go to the Araby bazaar. The feelings of anguish and anger happen at several points in the story. The sentence where he is clinching his fists, his uncle's late arrival home, and when he realizes that he will fail all add to the narrator's feelings of suffering.

The story starts and ends in darkness which leads me to believe that the narrator may be expressing his own feelings of isolation or loneliness. At the end of the story the narrator feels disillusioned because he was unable...