The short story, "Araby", by James Joyce is about a lonely boy who makes a pilgrimage to an eastern-styled bazaar in hopes that it will alleviate his miserable life. Throughout the story he battles withdrawal and a lack of control. Moreover, the themes of alienation and control are inherently linked because the source of the boy's emotional distance is his lack of control over his life.
             The story begins as the boy describes his neighborhood. Immediately a feeling of alienation and bleakness prevails. The street that the boy lives on is a dead-end; he is literally trapped. Furthermore, he feels ignored by the houses on his street. Their "brown imperturbable faces make him feel excluded from the decent lives within them." Every detail of his neighborhood seems designed to connote to him the feeling of isolation.
             The boy's house, like the street he lives on, is filled with decay. It is suffocating and "musty from being long enclosed." It is difficult for him to establish any sort of connection to it. Even the history of the house feels unkind. The house's previous tenant, a priest, had died. He "left all his money to institutions and the furniture of the house to his sister." It was as if he was trying to insure the boy's boredom and solitude. The only thing of interest that the boy can find is a bicycle-pump, which is rusty and rendered unfit to play with. Even the "wild" garden is gloomy and unaffected, containing but a lone apple tree "and a few straggling bushes." It is hardly the sort of yard that a young boy would prefer. Like most boys, he has no voice in choosing where he lives. Yet, he is affected by his surroundings.
             His home and neighborhood are not the only sources of the boy's animosity. The weather is also unkind to the boy. Not only is it cold, but the short days of winter make
             play more difficult under the "feeble lanterns." He is resigned to playing in "dark muddy lanes behind the houses whe...