Throughout literary history, authors have been fascinated by the use of the light and dark to adjust mood and atmosphere. Light is often a symbol of pleasantness, contentment and joy, whereas dark more often represents hardship, frustration and confusion. The two images are contrasted frequently, both in modern and in classic works. In James Joyce's "Araby," light, dark and shadow are juxtaposed to accentuate mood and to illustrate the feelings of the narrator.
             In the story, the narrator, a young boy around the age of twelve, has fallen in love with one of his playmates' sister. The narrator says that just the sound of her name makes his heart leap, but Joyce chooses to never mention her name: he refers to her only as Mangan's sister. The fact that her name is never uttered adds to the mysterious air that surrounds her and captivates the senses of the narrator. When the narrator speaks of her, he often vales her in shadow, or eclipses her in light. His fascination with her, probably an older, more mature young woman, is that of child-like wonderment. He doesn't know much about her; in fact he's never so much as spoken to her, yet he is entranced by the mystery of her. He waits in his drawing room every morning before school, waiting for her to come out. He describes this routine with the blind being "pulled down to an inch of the sash so that I could not be seen" (691). Joyce's illustration of "blindness" incorporates his theme of light and dark. He often uses this imagery in Araby, where someone or something is "blind" to a certain object. Here, the use of the term "blinds" is metaphoric in itself. The blinds were pulled so that the narrator could not be seen by Mangan's sister, making it seem as if she were completely unaware-or blind-that she was the object of his adoration.
             The story suggests that the narrator's playmates are...