The Paralysis and Following Epiphany in "Araby"

The events at the end of Araby somewhat foreshadow the Joycean epiphany that comes at the very end. First, the narrator's uncle arrives very late at home the night the narrator is supposed to go to Araby. His uncle does not even remember to give the narrator money for Araby upon his arrival. Later, after the narrator has taken the train to the bazaar, he sees that it will only be open for ten more minutes. He has trouble finding a sixpence entrance, so he settles for an entrance that costs twice as much out of fear that the bazaar would close before he could enter. He has rushed to accomplish the task of purchasing something for Mangan's sister up to this point; however, once he is inside the bazaar, all of his actions show paralysis,

I walked into the centre of the bazaar timidly... (34)
Remembering with difficulty why I had come I went over to one of the stalls and
examined porcelain vases and tea-sets... (35)
I lingered before her stall, though I knew my stay was useless, to make my interest in
her wares seem more real. Then I turned away slowly and walked down the middle
of the bazaar. I allowed the two pennies to fall against the sixpence in my pocket.
(35)

He shows no need of urgency to accomplish his goal once he has entered the bazaar. He seems to approach the stall with little or no idea of what his next action will be. As he looks at the vases and tea-sets in the stall, he does not contemplate what he will purchase. This becomes clear when he tells the woman who runs the stall that he has no desire to purchase anything. He already begins to feel a sense of hopelessness as he remains in the stall pretending to have a purpose there. When the lights of the bazaar turn off, he fully experiences the epiphany that his coming to Araby was useless because he could not bring himself to purchase anything. With this epiphany comes feelings of "anger and anguish." However, all of his hesitance from the point he entered Araby to the moment the lights turned out gradually foreshadows his ultimate epiphany and makes it more unavoidable. Like other Joycean epiphanies, this epiphany is followed by the narrator's return to the mundane parts of his life that are school and inability to interact with Mangan's sister.