“The lamps of the street lifted their feeble lanterns. The cold air stung us and we played till our bodies glowed” The children were the light of the street even though the lanterns weren’t working.

“When the short days of winter came, dusk fell before we had well eaten our dinners. When we met in the street the houses had grown somber.”

“The light from the lamp opposite our door caught the white curve of her neck, lit up her hair that rested there, and, falling, lit up the hand upon the railing.” This is suggesting that the boy truly is coming of age and starting to be aware of his senses and it is enlightening.

“I looked over at the dark house where she lived. I may have stood there for an hour, seeing nothing but the brown-clad figure cast by my imagination,”

“The other houses of the street, conscious of decent lives within them, gazed at one another with brown imperturbable faces” - this introduces the neighborhood/street as a dark place.

“The former tenant of our house, a priest, had died in the back drawing-room” This Introduces the dark past of the house the little boy lives in

“The space of sky above us was the color of ever-changing violet and towards it, the lamps of the street lifted their feeble lanterns.”     Even when his home wasn’t the best he was still able to see the light at the beginning of the story that would later turn to dark. This use of imagery with the sky has a positive effect on the reader.

“The air was pitilessly raw and already my heart misgave me.” “The career of our play brought us through the dark muddy lanes behind the houses, where we ran the gantlet of the rough tribes from the cottages, to the back doors of the dark dripping gardens where odors arose from the ash pits to the dark odorous stables were a coachman smoothed and combed the horse or shook music from the buckled harness.” Develops setting

“Every morning I lay on the floor in the front parlor watching her door” - the presence of the morning light provides hope for the kid for Mangan’s older sister to notice him.

“Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity, and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.” Compares the anger that is felt by the character to the darkness that has slowly started to surround him.

Joyce might be using these contrasting image patterns because they shed light on the setting while emphasizing certain aspects such as Mangan’s sister. Light and dark are applied in a literal manner throughout the piece to connect to the Archetypal Lens by developing the protagonist through his journey while he comes of age. He begins to be aware of his senses and it is enlightening.

The contrast between these two sets of images, light and dark, connects to Joyce’s overall message in the story by showing the character revolving around guilt as he loses his innocence. The story starts with light even when it was dark, the kinds were said to “glow” with happiness.  This however fades as the story continues and the characters grow dark.

“Her dress swung as she moved her body, and the soft rope of her hair tossed from side to side.”

“Her image accompanied me even in places the most hostile to romance.”

“She held one of the spikes, bowing her head towards me. The light from the lamp opposite our door caught the white curve of her neck, lit up her hair that rested there, and, **falling, lit up the hand upon the railing.” **

-“Her name sprang to my lips at moments in strange prayers and praises which I did not understand.”

- “yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood.”

- “But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires.”

Joyce contrasts the image patterns and contrasts of angel and temptress, a  juxtaposition, to represent one of the ways the little boy starts his journey toward becoming a man. His love and interest for the girl are the means through which the author develops the coming of age archetype by forcing the little boy to grow and change.

The contrast between the angel and temptress shows the difference in emotions that the narrator has throughout his personal growth throughout the story. He is in love with the girl and was naive as a young boy, but with coming of age, by the end of the story, he realizes that he is foolish for the way he was so in love with the girl.

Joyce uses these contrasting image patterns to teach the reader a lesson on sight and being blind to love. Joyce uses sight as a way of describing everything he knows about life while using blindness as his loss/lack of knowledge in the Hero’s Journey and Coming of age tale, involving young love. These contrasting patterns convey the complex emotional journey of the character through his transition to adulthood and his perceptions of love, religion, and the loss of innocence.

The distinction between the symbols of sight and contrasting blindness connects Joyce's overall message of a coming of age, (out of adolescence) with a Hero’s Journey of sudden awakening where the main theme is the danger of being young and naive. This idea connects to coming of age because the story is about maturing out of being so susceptible to love.

“The tone of her voice was not encouraging; she seemed to have spoken to me out of a sense of duty. Once or twice the young lady glanced at me over her shoulder.” At this moment the false narrative the speaker created is shattered as he realizes that his desires for the girl were in vain as she probably doesn’t even think about him.

“She was waiting for us, her figure defined by the light from the half-opened door.” This is a part of the dream he has created in his mind. She wasn’t waiting for him, however, that is how the readers experience his narrative: as if it was real because the speaker believes that it is real.

“I had hardly any patience with the serious work of life which, now that it stood between me and my desire, seemed to me child's play, ugly monotonous child's play.” Play is often a time for illusion and imagination, but even this is compared to the drag of real life compared to the character’s grand illusion.

“This happened morning after morning. I had never spoken to her, except for a few casual words, and yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood.”Her name isn’t summoning his blood, he’s just trying to say that he gets excited when he hears people talk about her.

“At the door of the stall, a young lady was talking and laughing with two young gentlemen. I noticed their English accents…” The reality is that everyone feels love, even the English, and the protagonist’s feelings are not special.

“Looked over at the dark house where she lived. I may have stood there for an hour, seeing nothing but the brown-clad figure cast by my imagination” Casting a long gaze at her house he sees a vision of her even though she isn’t truly there.

She sees the contrasting images to show the reality and imagination of growing up. He uses illusions to paint a picture of the girl which he keeps on his mind at all times, but by the end of the story, he sees the reality of his romanticism. He matures, which relates to coming of age, and saves himself of all the hard work he’s been putting in for this girl, which shows the narrator's hero’s journey.

The two images connect to Joyce’s overall message in the story because, throughout the story, the narrator is always picturing the girl and thinking about how in love he is with her. All up until the end of the story, the boy continues to ponder about the girl and is constantly thinking of her, but by the end of the story, he is brought back to reality. He realizes the effort he had put into this girl who did not feel the same way for him, so he feels angry and regrets his time of thinking of the girl.