Beginning of Essay
In "Araby" James Joyce portrays his childhood as a dark, hopeless and poverty stricken one. Which would lead one to believe that this was how Joyce himself grew up, which is somewhat true. In fact Joyce was born into a fairly prosperous family of Irish merchants ....

Middle of Essay
.... In the opening paragraphs Joyce talks about the Priest whom had died where the narrator himself now lives. The home where the narrator had found a smut book, as well as the Priest's will and paperwork of charitable contributions, since when does a Priest make enough money to have an extensive will, wonders the narrator? I also believe the Araby bazaar was a symbol of the church as Cleanth Brooks stated [in Understanding Fiction, 1947] "The quest for the father, for the church, has been thwarted by reality. The bazaar turns out to be just as cold, as dark, and as man-made as the gloomy house of the dead priest on his own street."(Fitzgerald) ....