He realizes that this infatuation for Mangan's sister is an illusion, and simply a wistful idea that serves as escape from his discontentment: "I lingered before her stall, though I knew my stay was useless, to make my interest in her wares seem more real. Then I turned away slowly and walked down the middle of the bazaar" (Joyce *). He allows the coin to fall from his pocket, and in a denouement that indicates Joyce's message, he hears a voice calling "the lights are out" casting the upper part of the hall in utter darkness.

Norris (1995) sees the story in a more positive light as indicating merely a momentary shift towards disappointment but that 'light' will return at the end of the day. To me it seems as though Joyce wishes to indicate that the 'runt of the litter' may never have an opportunity to bathe in this...
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