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“Or if Mangan's sister came out on the doorstep to call her brother in to his tea, we watched her from our shadow peer up and down the street. We waited to see whether she would remain or go in and, if she remained, we left our shadow and walked up to Mangan's steps resignedly. She was waiting for us, her figure defined by the light from the half-opened door. Her brother always teased her before he obeyed, and I stood by the railings looking at her. Her dress swung as she moved her body, and the soft rope of her hair tossed from side to side.”
This is the first time that the reader meets or hears of Mangan’s sister. It is an important moment for both the narrator and the reader because Joyce essentially introduces us to the one-sided love story that dominates much of the text’s plot. It is important to note that Managn’s sister is not given a name or the opportunity to speak when she is first introduced, indicating that the narrator does not really know the girl that he is infatuated with.
“It's well for you”...
“If I go… I will bring you something.”
This moment marks the only time the narrator actually interacts with Mangan’s sister. Here, she complains that she cannot go to Araby and the narrator, eager to court her favor, says that he will go and bring her back a gift. This brief exchange is vital to the story because it marks the moment that the narrator links his relationship with Mangan’s sister to the bazaar. This conflation is significant because, by the end of the text, the narrator will conflate his disillusionment with the bazaar to his disillusionment with his unfolding love story.
