Setting as Symbol in "Araby"

When the reader uncovers the meaning of "Araby", the reader can see that this story is actually about a boy who is torn between his religious beliefs and his feelings. The symbolic significance of the little boys quest in James Joyce's short story is to allow the boy to realize that the real world is not what he had fantasized about in his head. When he gets to the bazaar, after a very long time, it is revealed that; "Nearly all the stalls were closed and the greater part of the hall was in darkness. I recognized a silence like that which pervades a church after a service" (111). This "darkness" is very disappointing to the boy because the whole purpose of his journey was to buy something for Mangen's sister who is perceived as the narrators crush. The bazaar can be thought to symbolize the boys epiphany when he realizes that his religion and the way he was raised is not the way he wants to live.

There are many more symbols that lead up to the narrators epiphany. "The former tenant of our house, a priest, had died in the back drawing room" (107). The priest also refers to the religious significance of the story as well as the bazaar and the dead end or "blind side" of the street; "North Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian Brothers' School set the boys free. An uninhabited house of two storeys stood at the blind end, detached from its neighbors in a square ground" (107). The "uninhabited house" is a symbol of the church at the end of the street. Mangen's sister is a symbol for the narrator's feelings. Because of the way he was brought up with his religion, the boy is confused when he has all of these feelings for the girl. He doesn't know what to think due to his upbringing leading to the conflict between his religious beliefs and his feelings. All of these symbols converge so that the narrator has an epiphany by the end of the story. Each symbol signifies the narrator realizing that his religion is not how he wants his life to be therefore leading him to his change.