Answer:
In “Araby,” the bazaar has a number of meanings. It could symbolize the narrator’s desire to escape the boredom and dullness of his conventional life in Dublin with his aunt and uncle. The name Araby signifies the East, which suggests that it’s exotic to a young man growing up in Dublin. Upon hearing the name of the bazaar, the narrator feels as though “an Eastern enchantment” takes him over. The narrator is thrilled by the idea of visiting the bazaar, however, once he arrives, he is deeply disillusioned. The narrator realizes the bazaar is a place of ordinary commerce. Therefore, the bazaar could also symbolize false and misguided dreams and desires.
The protagonist envisions the bazaar as the key to gaining the affection of Mangan’s sister. The girl is interested in the bazaar, but she cannot visit it with him. Buying a gift for the girl at the bazaar becomes the narrator’s sole focus and goal:
What innumerable follies laid waste my waking and sleeping thoughts after that evening! I wished to annihilate the tedious intervening days. . . .The syllables of the word Araby were called to me through the silence in which my soul luxuriated and cast an Eastern enchantment over me. . . . I had hardly any patience with the serious work of life which, now that it stood between me and my desire, seemed to me child's play, ugly monotonous child's play.
Ultimately, however, the protagonist realizes his desire to visit and purchase something at the bazaar is an empty, material aspiration, which can be seen in the closing line of the story: “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.”
Explanation:
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