Disillusionment of Life - Dubliners

In James Joyce's "Araby", an arcane glimpse into the life of a young boy is revealed as he passes from a state of naivete into cognizance of his life. We watch as he leads himself through a fateful-ending journey in which he realizes his disillusionment about love, adults and the world he lives in. The boy is a representative of each of us as we mature in our dark and dirty world and discontinue looking …

… hoping that it will be better than the previous. There is comfort in the familiarity of the norm, but the desire to experience the new always exists. Joyce's nostalgic lament on innocence lost warns us of the dangers that we may face when taking things on in blind faith and following an unfamiliar lighted pathway. Which pathway we choose is all a part of the decisions that one must face on becoming an adult.