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Araby Theme Essay

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Araby Theme Essay
James Joyce’s short story, Araby, focuses on a young boy who becomes obsessed with attending the Araby bazaar in order to find a gift for a girl he likes. I believe one of the story’s underlying themes is the power of coveting. For example, the boy narrator says, “ I had never spoken to her, except for a few casual words, and yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood” (Joyce, n.d., para. 4). It is clear from this passage the boy fantasizes the idea of being with Mangan’s sister, yet he has never made a true gesture to get to know her. It is also possible the boy is using the fantasy of the girl to distract him from his somber condition. His entire world is dark, and she is an exotic brown-skinned diversion from his reality (Joyce,
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