"Araby" by James Joyce is about the adolescent awakening of a young boy. The boy is the narrator in this story and he expresses his admiration and fantasies for a girl in his neighborhood. There are many parts of the story that exemplify how the boy is feeling and what he is experiencing. One such simile sends shivers running through the reader, "But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires." This diction that James Joyce uses is near perfection as it portrays the feelings that the boy is having on an emotional and physical level. The comparison of the girl playing the narrator like a harp shows the reader just how much control she has on him. This explains why the boy is so willing to go to Araby at the girls request. Also, the simile of the harp is able to describe that tingling feeling of anticipation and anxiety that all of us feel, but few of us can describe. The vibrations of the harp and the smooth melodic tone are representative of the entranced state that the girl puts on the boy. This simile does an exemplary job of adding to the story and is a great use of diction.