Araby- On Style #2

In the short story Araby by James Joyce, the speaker is so overwhelmed by love that he thinks about his lover everywhere, even "in places most hostile to romance." One of the places that is seemingly unfit for romance is the marketplace which is filled with "flaring streets", "drunken men", "bargaining women", "shrill litanies", "pigs' cheeks", and "nasal chanting". Throughout all of these distractions, annoyances, and danger, the speaker stills carries the thought of his lover. The harshness of the situation only adds to how much attention he gives his thoughts. He protects her from all the chaotic noise, all the dangers, and all the unpleasantries of the marketplace.
By turning every-day happenings into dangers that could have an ill affect on his love, the speaker is able to create a romance out of a simple shopping excursion. Each thing that he passes by is a threat to his lover but if he had passed by without his lover in mind he might have not even thought about them at all. However, because they are presented as threats and disturbances, the speaker becomes a guardian, a chivalrous knight protecting his lady.
Using harsh words to describe everyday things gives the illusions that these are threats. Adjectives like "flaring", "shrill", and "drunken" all give a much more negative tone to the words they modify which would not be negative at all without the preceding adjectives. So it is through the placement of the negative adjectives that the speaker is able to create a chaotic environment which he must save his lover from, and therefore presents a simple shopping trip as a chivalric romance.