James Joyce's Araby as a coming-of-age story

Jenna Hecker Moss, Analysis and Interpretation of Literature Analysis of Araby 9/28/04 <Tab/>Araby, by James Joyce is a story about a young boy experiencing his first feelings of attraction to the opposite sex, and the way he deals with it. The story's young protagonist is unable to explain or justify his own actions because he has never dealt with these sort of feelings before, and feels as though someone or something …

…boy is returning to ignorance and childhood. "Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger" reflects the boy, finally realizing that the whole quest was frivolous, the girl was a fantasy. So, in this end paragraph, although the darkness is a return to childhood, he has gained some self-realization. His ability to recognize his youth and his ignorance is a growth.