ArabyBy James Joyce

Once Upon a time…

a young boy lived in Dublin, and grew up in a drab neighborhood. He longed for something more.

That boy’s best friend is named Mangan; the boy loves Mangan’s sister. He considered her to be his “chalice” (Holy Grail) that he carried with him on his journeys through the streets of Dublin.

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The one time the Mangan’s sister talks to him is to ask about Araby, an Arab style bazaar set up in Dublin.

She wants nothing more than be able to go, but there is a retreat for her convent that day. (!!!!)

The boy begs and pleads with his uncle to give him a little money so he can go to the bazaar; for he promised to buy something from the bazaar for Mangan’s sister.

Though his uncle agrees, he arrives home late and the boy must rush off to the bazaar before it closes down.

He rushes off to the bazaar feeling like a knight on a quest for his fair maiden (Mangan’s Sister), but…

As he arrives the bazaar is nearly closed, with most of the stalls empty.

The boy heads to an open stall and looks through the wares, but realizes that the young girl in charge is annoyed at his interrupting her flirtations with one of the boys working another stall.

The boy decides not to buy anything. As he is leaving they begin to shut the lights off.There, in the darkening hall, he has an epiphany, a moment of sudden realization, that things with Managan’s sister are not so “once upon a time” as he imagined them to be.

                        

“Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided

by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.”

THE END

Objective: TSW identify and analyze the plot, characterization, and theme in James Joyce’s “Araby”, by completing graphic organizers and responding to short answer and open-ended questions.