Araby
Complete textA boy in Dublin becomes absorbed in his feelings for a neighbor’s sister and promises to bring her something from the Araby bazaar. Everyday delays obstruct the journey he has invested with extraordinary meaning. His anticipation turns a small errand into an imagined test of devotion.
Continue readingAbout Araby
The boy’s romantic language transforms streets, rooms, and an advertised bazaar before he has really experienced what he desires. The practical business of getting permission and money keeps interrupting that transformation. Attend to the difference between the world he imagines and the commercial and domestic details around him, without rushing past the story’s final change of perspective.
Reading focus
Notice how romantic expectation transforms an ordinary errand, and how practical delays gradually expose the distance between imagination and experience.
This reading edition contains 2,328 words in 1 original section. Read the text online with adjustable type and three colour themes, or keep a printable PDF.
Author: James Joyce. Language: English. Reading edition: 28 October 2026.
Opening excerpt
North Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian Brothers’ School set the boys free. An uninhabited house of two storeys stood at the blind end, detached from its neighbours in a square ground. The other houses of the street, conscious of decent lives within them, gazed at one another with brown imperturbable faces.
Contents
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Is this the complete Araby?
This edition contains the complete English literary text, with 1 section and 2,328 words. This reading edition preserves the checked English text and its section order. No study notes have been added.
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A4 is designed for 210 × 297 mm paper; US Letter for 8.5 × 11 inch paper. Both contain the same complete text, selectable text and section bookmarks.
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