Answer:
The bazaar represents the exotic and romantic feeling, the innocence of the young boy which later turns to be just an illusion.
Joyce used the image of the bazaar "Araby" as something akin to a pilgrimage from one place to another place that is exotic and different, a development from childhood to adulthood.
Explanation:
James Joyce's "Araby" is from his "Dubliners", a collection of short stories. In it, he uses the voice of the small boy to show the illusions of an individual, his expectations dashed and ruined.
The narrator, the young boy, had been infatuated with Mangan's sister and had wanted to impress her. The bazaar "Araby" represents something, someplace where things are different from his usual boring place. There, everything is exotic and better, like his feelings for the girl. But turns out, not everything is how we expect it to be. The exoticism of the bazaar represents the unrealistic dreams of the young boy. But once he had seen the bazaar himself, he realizes that it's all the same. His innocence and illusions are shattered, leaving him with nothing but the harsh reality of life. The symbolic meaning of the bazaar stayed throughout the story, for it's representation of an innocence lost amidst the reality of life.
