Probably no other short story of the 20th century has attracted as much attention as Joyce's “The Arab.” A certain universality of experience makes the story interesting for readers of all ages, as they react instinctively to an experience that could have been their own. The story evokes the stormy period of adolescence that we all experienced and the reader sympathizes with the protagonist as he experiences his first crush. In his brief but complex story, James Joyce uses imagery and symbolism to reveal the blind obsession and compulsive behavior characteristic of a boy in the grip of his first crush. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay The unnamed protagonist of “Araby” is a preteen boy living in Dublin, Ireland. His life is simple, made up of school and play until the sister of one of his playmates fascinates him. He studies her lovingly and notes how “her dress [sways] as she moves her body” and longs to touch “the soft rope of her hair” (753). These sensual images hint at the obsessive feelings to come. Soon, he can only think about her. The image of her accompanies him "even in places most hostile to romanticism": the market and the streets, among "drunken men and merchants", in the middle of "the curses of the workers, the strident litanies of the boys store” (754). ). His fixation on her is absolute. He imagines that his feelings for her are a “chalice” and that he “carried her safely through a crowd of enemies” (754). His feelings are so immediate and deep that he states that his "eyes were often full of tears" and he could not say why. As his obsession progresses, he realizes that he is unable to speak to her and that even her name provokes an adrenaline rush: "her name was like a call to all my senseless blood" (754) . He loses interest in school, because he cannot stop thinking about it obsessively: "her image came between me and the page I was trying to read." At night, he locks himself in a room and surrenders so completely to his vision that he feels on the verge of fainting. To avoid losing consciousness, he appeals to the thought of her, murmuring: “O love! O love! again and again (754). These images along with the girl's sensual descriptions show that he is clearly obsessed with her. This obsession encourages behavior in the boy that can only be described as compulsive. The boy admits that he lay on the floor in the front room every morning “watching his door” (753). When she appears in the doorway, his compulsive behavior is validated at the sight of her, which makes his heart “leap” (753). He follows her to school every morning and he only feels comfortable because he has “always kept her brown figure in [his] eyes” (753). In one case, her uncle thwarts his obligation to watch and follow her every morning. Because his uncle is in the hall where he usually awaits the appearance of the girl, he is unable to carry out his compulsion. This disrupts the usual order of his day and he leaves "the house in a bad mood" with a doubtful heart. That evening, instead of playing with his friends, he stands at the window and looks at his house. Like an obsessive, he loses track of time in his compulsive thoughts about her. He says, “I stood there perhaps for an hour, seeing nothing but the brown-clad figure projected by my imagination” (755). Although he is obsessed with the girl and is forced to look at her and think about her everything.