The theme of Araby is confusion on the boys part because he doesn’t know what he wants. The boy is young and naive. The appearance in the story is portrayed as dark and gloomy and is set in Dublin around the 1900’s.
The boys interest are mainly in mangans sister who is obviously some what older than he. He seems to be obsessed with watching her physical attractions (her white neck, her soft hair, the movement of the brown-clad figure).