Araby," One of the Dubliners Term Paper

"I had never spoken to her," he admits (30). When finally he does he is at a loss for words. "When she addressed the first words to me I was so confused that I did not know what to answer," (31). He communicates better in a fantasy world, just as he sees better in his fantasy world: "Her name sprang to my lips at moments in strange prayers and praises which I myself did not understand," (31). Sensory deprivation is at times total: "All my senses seemed to desire to veil themselves," (31). Silence and muteness, while not as prevalent as blindness, contribute to an overall sense of darkness and death in "Araby." Sensory deprivation is also a part of religious esotericism. At Araby, the narrator "recognized a silence like that which pervades a church after a service," (34).

His lack of real or symbolic sight indicates his lack of connection to his daily life and thus his strong need for escapism. The narrator notes, "I thought little of the future," (31). His obsession with Mangan's sister prevents him from concentrating: "her image came between me and the page I strove to read," (32). In fact, he has so lost touch with reality that while at Araby, the narrator forgets why he came in the first place.Thus, the obvious coming-of-age theme of "Araby" is superceded by more subtle themes of the quest for self and for the discovery of one's identity. The exotic, foreign, magical nature of the market evokes the narrator's epiphany. He undergoes a type of spiritual initiation. "I looked humbly at the great jars that stood like eastern guards at either side of the dark entrance to the stalls," (35). Thus, the themes of blindness, death, and sexuality converge. Throughout "Araby," the narrator focuses on darkness and uses darkness as a means to escape from an unfulfilling life and to hide his identity. The darkness of the streets permits him and his playmates to hide from his uncle and from Mangan; the darkness of the buildings cloaks the true lives of those that dwell within them; and the darkness of Mangan's sister's skin represents an exotic, foreign….....