Student Question
After Mangan's sister gives the narrator the idea of going to the Araby bazaar, the boy is essentially unable to think about anything else. As he confesses, the three syllables of the word “Araby” have cast what he describes as an “Eastern enchantment” over him. His soul veritably "luxuriate[s]" in the sublime silence through which these syllables call to him.
Under the circumstances, it is not surprising that the narrator should, as he puts it, "chafe against the work of school." For many students, staying focused all day at school can be a challenge under normal circumstances. But for someone in the narrator's position—someone whose mind is filled with romantic longings and plans—it is especially difficult to remain focused at school.
Every time he tries to read something in class, an image of Mangan's sister arises in his mind, standing between the boy and the page he is trying to read. Whatever he is doing—or, to be more accurate, whatever he is trying to do—he cannot stop thinking about Mangan's sister and his plans to go to the bazaar to buy her a gift. The narrator's diminished ability to focus is evident to his teacher, whose expression towards the narrator is increasingly stern. For the narrator, going to school, like the “serious work of life” in general, is nothing more than “ugly, monotonous child's play”.
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