Comment on the symbols in "Araby."

Let us remember that symbols do not necessarily need to be
objects, they can also be characters or actions. You might want to reflect upon the
symbolism that the boy sees in this story based on how he views Mangan's sister and also
the journey to the bazaar that she sends him on. Part of the richness of this story
comes from the way that the boy is presented as suffering from romantic illusions, and
this is strongly suggested in his description of how the thought of Mangan's sister
occupied his thoughts and hours during the day, even at places that are normally
"hostile to romance" such as the marketplace. Note what the narrator tells us of how his
thoughts are obsessed with Mangan's sister:

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I imagined that I bore my chalice safely through
a throng of foes. Her name sprang to my lips at moments in strange prayers and praises
which I myself did not understand. My eyes were often full of tears (I could not tell
why) and at times a flood from my heart seemed to pour itself out into my bosom... But
my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon
wires.

Symbolically, then, we
can see that the impressionable narrator regards his relationship with Mangan's sister
much as an Arthurian knight's relationship with his love. He imagines being sent on a
quest by her, much as Galahad had to retrieve the Holy Grail, and the simile comparing
himself to a harp at her touch indicates the total control that she had over him.
Symbolically, from the narrator's point of view, the "quest" that Mangan's sister gives
him thus has a much deeper significance, as it gives him the opportunity to show and
prove the steadfastness and the purity of his love.

In
additition, you might like to consider the symbolism of the bazaar itself, especially as
suggested by the final paragraphs, and how the symbolism that the boy gives the events
in this story is replaced by a deeper and bleaker symbolism at the ending. Good
luck!