In the following essay, Freimarck suggests that "Araby" has a "Grail Quest" story pattern, and uses this classification to examine the boy's quest for the idealized girl, Mangan's sister. (In medieval English legend The Grail was a cup Jesus drank from at the Last Supper that was later used to collect drops of his blood at the Crucifixion. Many of King Arthur's noblest knights went on a "Quest" in search of The Grail and its magical powers.)

The story of a young boy journeying to Araby in hope of winning the favor of an idealized girl immediately raises echoes of the Grail Quest story-pattern. Indeed, several actions and images in "Araby" common to basic versions of the Quest suggest this theme stimulated Joyce's imagination in ordering his modern material, and of course the reader who recognizes them is tempted to look for clues. Yet even in the...