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The Railing
There is a railing or a fence outside of Mangan’s house. As a result, the narrator and Mangan’s sister are always separated by a physical structure every time the narrator watches her. The railing becomes a point of fixation for the narrator and he always mentions it when describing the sight of Mangan’s sister standing before him. The railing even figures into the moments when the narrator trails behind Mangan’s sister each morning because he has to watch from his window until she crosses the threshold of her family’s property and enters out onto the street. He is particularly entranced by the way her hand delicately grasps onto the railing when she steps outside. Whether the narrator is watching her call her brother to tea, imagining her in one of his many daydreams, or recalling their conversation about Araby, the narrator always comes back to the image of her hand holding on to one of the spikes along the fence.
The railing is a physical barrier that symbolizes the narrator’s inability to make a real connection with Mangan’s sister. The narrator is infatuated with her but he is debilitatingly afraid of speaking to her and often finds himself paralyzed and silent in her presence. His bashful demeanor is like a railing because it keeps him and Mangan’s sister apart from one another and discourages any real contact. The hand on the railing, therefore, represents the sensual option to metaphorically open the gate and pursue a more intimate relationship. However, the narrator is unable to overcome both the physical and emotional barrier by the end of the text, resigning himself to a life of daydreams and romantic fantasies instead of genuine romance.
The Bazaar
The only actual conversation between the narrator and Mangan’s sister occurs towards the middle of the story when she asks the narrator if he is planning to go to the Araby bazaar. She expresses disappointment that she cannot attend because her school is having a retreat that week. The narrator, eager to prove himself and earn her love, promises to bring her back a gift if he goes. The narrator then becomes obsessed with the idea of going to Araby and becomes pulled into the bazaar’s “Eastern enchantment[s].” He is intrigued by the promise of cultures that are different from his Irish upbringing and looks forward to a break from the monotony of his daily life.
The bazaar, then, becomes conflated with Mangan’s sister and together they represent unrealistic expectations. The narrator is convinced that his arrival at Araby will be like stepping into an exotic new land and is disappointed when he is met with English accents and regular household items such as vases and floral tea sets. His disillusionment with the bazaar then transforms into a disillusionment with Mangan’s sister as he realizes that both the bazaar and his romance with the girl of his dreams has been entirely made up in his head. His unrealistic expectations give way to shame and anguish as he curses himself for his vanity and his refusal to see reality. It is a sobering moment of clarity for our young protagonist, offering a pessimistic but realistic view of the real world.
