HTRLLAP Chapter 12

          The fence is James Joyce's "Araby" contains several symbols. First off, being a fence, it's job is to separate and contain something, such as animals, but it has a secondary purpose to keep other things, like unwanted visitors, out. This shows how Mangan's sister is contained, she is restricted and has little freedom from behind the fence that contains her. It also symbolizes how the unnamed protagonist is being kept out of her life, and away from her. Even further, it represents an age gap. Mangan's sister is presumably older than him and our protagonist, and is out of his reach in both friendship and love. While the fence is really only just a fence, it shows how our protagonist and Mangan's sister will never be able to really know one another.