Who is the Protagonist of the Story, ‘Araby’? What Does He Aspire to Achieve And Why?

Answer

Who is the protagonist of the story, ‘Araby’? What does he aspire to achieve and why?

Or, What does the protagonist in “Araby” strive to achieve and why?

In James Joyce’s (1882-1941) short story “Araby,” published in 1914, the unnamed narrator is the central character (protagonist). In the story, the protagonist strives to win the attention and admiration of Mangan’s sister, who he has a deep crush on.

Fantasy of Love: The narrator idealizes Mangan’s sister and thinks of her in almost religious terms, saying,

Her name sprang to my lips at moments in strange prayers and praises which I myself did not understand.

To him, she represents beauty, love, and an escape from the dull and monotonous life he leads on his quiet street in Dublin.

When Mangan’s sister mentions she cannot go to the Araby bazaar, the boy promises to go and bring her something. He believes that buying her a gift will prove his feelings and make her see him as someone special. This mission becomes his purpose, and he dreams of it constantly.

Realization: However, his journey to the bazaar ends in disappointment. He does not have any money. His uncle, from whom he wants to take some money, comes home late from work. The narrator arrives at the bazaar late. He finds most of the stalls closed. He realizes the market is not as fanciful as he imagined. In the end, he doesn’t buy a gift and is left with an epiphany (a moment of sudden and great revelation): his quest was motivated more by vanity than love. He reflects in anguish,

Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity.

In short, through this failure, the narrator begins to understand the painful gap between fantasy and reality.