"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...
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