Obsession in ArabiaIn the short story "Araby" by James Joyce, the main character is a young boy who confuses obsession with love. This boy thinks he is in love with a young girl, but all his thoughts, ideas and actions show that he is simply obsessed. Throughout this short story, there are many examples showing the boy's obsession with the girl. There is also evidence that shows the boy doesn't really understand love or all the feelings that come with it. When the boy first describes the girl, you can see his obsession with her. He seems to notice every detail such as "her dress swayed as she moved her body and the soft rope of her hair swayed from side to side" (Joyce 548). You generally don't remember every detail about a person unless you are very intrigued by that person. Also note how he describes his hair as "soft rope." This shows the complex way the boy perceives her. Another way to see the young boy's obsession with the girl is through his actions. Every morning he waits for the girl to appear, then he follows her. The way the boy waits for the girl makes it clear that he is obsessed with her. The young boy is lying “on the floor in the front living room and looking at her. The blind was lowered to within an inch of the sash so that [it] could not be seen” (Joyce 548). This sounds like spying, and spying on someone usually indicates that you have a fixation with that person. In this case, the young boy clearly demonstrates this fixation. For example, as the young boy follows her, this is how he describes his adventure: "I always kept her brown figure in my eyes, and when we approached the point at that moment, our paths diverged, I I picked up my pace and passed her. That morning... middle of paper ... the lights go out, and he is in the dark as he stands there in the darkness. , he sees himself “as a creature motivated and ridiculed by vanity; and [his] eyes burn with anguish and anger” (Joyce 551). I think that's when the young boy realizes that his whole trip to Arabia was foolish because a gift from the bazaar won't endear the girl to him. The young boy finally realizes that everything he has done has been motivated by a stupid idea that he thinks is love, but now he knows that it is just a pathetic obsession with the young girl. The young boy's eyes burn because he feels so stupid. everything he did supposedly out of love, when he finally realizes that all his thoughts, actions and ideas were just an obsession. Works Cited Joyce, James "Araby." The Harper Ed Sylvan Barnet New York: HarperCollins., 1986.