"blind", "sight"," eyes" and "image" are constantly repeated throughout "Araby"; "North Richmond Street, being blind..." (Joyce, 76), an uninhabited house of two storeys stood at the blind end" (Joyce, 76), "The blind was pulled down to within an inch ...so that I could not be seen" (Joyce, 77), "her image accompanied me..."(Joyce, 77), "my eyes were often full of tears (I could not tell why)" (Joyce, 77). By the end of the story, the protagonist, has changed, he has developed from a boy into an adult. He finally clearly realizes that he was blinded by love, an adolescent love, which probably existed in his mind only. The contrast between the boy's reality and dreams is ironically drawn and clearly foreshadows the boy's inability to keep the dream (to remain blind). He is no longer blind, he realizes that there is no Araby in Ireland; he becomes aware of the futility of life in Dublin and of his own foolishness "I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity..."(Joyce, 80). All this awareness pushes him into the adult world.
             The presence of this romantic/religious/sexual complex is central to Joyce's story, as the boy confuses and conflates Romantic Love, Religious Love and Materialist Love. The confused and unhealthy mixture of religion and sex makes the protagonist into the character he is. The boy is on a search for the Holy Grail, he transformed his sexual attraction to the girl into a sacred (religious) one, whose desires are frustrated by political (British) and religious (Catholic) forces beyond his recognition or awareness. The boy's confusion about love, sexuality and religion is conveyed with the choice of language. When the boy thinks of the girl he does so in religious terms; the religious undertone is established by words associated with religion, like "image", "litanies", "chalice", "adoration", etc. The incident in the back drawing-room represents a situation in which his religious training has suppressed his ...