In James Joyce’s “Araby,” the powerful visual imagery guides the narrator’s journey and offers insight into his decisions. Joyce’s short story, written in the style of Realism and set in Dublin, Ireland, is rife with antique imagery and mystical religious symbolism. The narrator, a young boy, is captivated by his love interest, Mangan’s sister, and is driven to visit the bazaar Araby. He is surrounded by visual imagery that serves as a microcosm of his inner world, shaped by his fragile opinions of others. This impression is evident when the narrator is watching Mangan’s sister on the doorstep and describes how her “dress swung as she moved her body and the soft rope of her hair tossed from side to side” (Joyce 285). This imagery is symbolic of his own feelings of love and desire. The described emotions grow stronger as he continues his journey to Araby. Through this visual analysis, Joyce presents a unique view of the narrator’s definition of love and isolation, illustrating how his sense of perception heavily influences his decisions.
Furthermore, in “Araby,” Joyce emphasizes the importance of sensory perception in the narrator’s journey and decision-making. The narrator’s identity is shaped by his emotions and his perceptions of his surroundings. Joyce portrays a clear contrast between isolation and loves through the vivid imagery of colors, sights, sounds, textures, and smells. For example, when the narrator enters the back drawing room of the house, the “air, musty from having been long enclosed” gives the reader a sense of the enclosed, dark space of the room (Joyce 284). Moreover, the “fine incessant needles of water” that the narrator hears through the broken pane symbolizes the loneliness and despair he feels while in the room (Joyce 285). This imagery, along with the narrator’s emotions, leads him to his epiphany of love and longing. Through this imagery, Joyce shows that the narrator’s decision-making is guided by his senses and his emotional state rather than rational thought. The narrator’s journey of love and isolation culminates in his realization that love is not what he expected it to be and that he is still in a state of isolation.