payment page
“The syllables of the word Araby were called to me through the silence in which my soul luxuriated and cast an Eastern enchantment over me.”
The narrator is fascinated by the Araby bazaar, but even more than that, he is participating in orientalism. Orientalism is the depiction or romanization of aspects of the Eastern world by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. Here, the narrator is pulled into Araby’s “Eastern enchantment[s].” He is convinced that the bazaar will be exotic and exciting and offer an escape from his monotonous life in Dublin. The narrator’s fantastical language returns at the end of the text when he refers to the sign outside the bazaar as “magical.”
“Remembering with difficulty why I had come, I went over to one of the stalls and examined porcelain vases and flowered tea-sets. At the door of the stall a young lady was talking and laughing with two young gentlemen. I remarked their English accents and listened vaguely to their conversation.”
The narrator has gotten his hopes up about the Araby bazaar and is excited to see all the exotic, eastern sights when he arrives. He is, therefore, understandably disappointed. Instead of the “Eastern enchantment[s]” from the previous quote, he is met with English accents and the type of home decor that could be found in a regular Dublin shop. This passage reveals the narrator’s failed expectations and solidifies the message that it is foolish to try to escape our reality through fantasy and daydreams.
