Araby

“Araby” is a short story by Irish writer James Joyce. The story is a part of Joyce’s renowned Dubliners collection, first published in 1914, which portrays daily life in the Irish city of Dublin in the early 20th century. In “Araby,” a young boy falls in love with his friend’s sister and attempts to purchase her a gift from the Araby Bazaar. The short story has been adapted as a song and a short film. Other stories in Dubliners include "Two Gallants," "The Sisters," "Clay," "Ivy Day in the Committee Room," and "Counterparts." Joyce is also famous for his novels, A Portrait of the Artist as a New Man, Ulysses, and Finnegan's Wake.

This guide uses an eBook copy of the 2004 Barnes & Noble edition of Dubliners.

The unnamed narrator of the story is a child who lives in Dublin at the beginning of the 20th century. He lives on a quiet, dead end street on which a number of brown houses flank a Christian Brother’s school.