"Araby" is a good example of literary fiction. It's helpful to know what the term "literary fiction" means and how it differs from other fiction. Literary fiction is fiction that is meant to be understood as art. That means that it employs language in a refined way, deals with themes that have some significance for readers beyond the scope of the story, and hopes to educate the reader or explain a point of view that might be new to the reader. Unlike popular fiction, the purpose of which is to entertain (and to sell well), literary fiction's primary goal is to engage the reader in ways that will cause reflection.

"Araby" is a good example because the purpose of the story is to show the turbulent emotions of the protagonist and create an empathetic reaction on the part of the reader. The material of the story—a trip to a bazaar to buy a promised token for a girl—is mundane. What gives it depth and meaning is Joyce's handling of the narrator's intense feelings, his frustration at his lack of independence, and the desperation of his trip to the bazaar. More than simply explaining what happened, Joyce is able to make his reader feel what the narrator is feeling.