Despite the often automatic preconception in literature that darkness and negativity are inextricably linked, darkness is primarily a force protector and natural child of North Richmond Street. The narrator first mentions darkness when describing sunset, designating the children's playtime as beginning at dusk. As darkness spreads across the street, "the space of sky above...was of an ever-changing purple color," and the street lamps struggled in vain to bring back the light by casting "their feeble lanterns » (Joyce, 1). This powerfully romantic image appears as the first sign that the contrast between Joyce's light and darkness will not be traditional and bland. And describing the sky at sunset as "ever-changing" establishes that the coming darkness cannot be responsible for or indicative of the stuck and paralyzed Dublin that Joyce repeatedly illustrates in Araby and Dubliners. Instead, the light appears as potentially negative, intruding into the darkness, attempting to destroy even the beautiful sunset. The children then jostle in this darkness, “[meeting] the challenge of the harsh tribes” (1). Joyce uses several details defined by darkness to describe their piece, which give an air of mystery and magic to the night. The children run through "dark, muddy alleys" and "dark, dripping gardens" and can hear a stable boy "[shaking] music from [a] buckle harness" in the stables, all of which are images magnificently wild. Joyce does not pretend that such a play can be perfectly gentle, featuring strange smells and ashes, but the scene appears childish, wild and innocent, free of any misery or suffering. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay In contrast, the light comes to represent the corrupting effect of Dublin society on its children. As the children enjoy their nightly games, they escape the harshness of the world, avoiding adults and “[hiding] in the shadows” (1). When Mangan's sister comes out to call the children inside, they only accept when she "stays" at the door for a moment, and then they do so "with resignation", torn from their comforting shadows in the world cruel of the adults of Dublin (1). Mangan himself "teases" her, but even he has no choice but to go into the light (1), emphasizing that all children are ultimately forced into the adult world. And only once from this angle does the boy first describe his attraction to Mangan's sister, emphasizing that darkness, or whatever it may represent, is not the cause of what he later describes as “vanity” (5). He says that “her silhouette [was] defined by the light of the half-open door,” reducing her to a representative of light and virtually nothing else (2). The boy's only descriptions of her are aesthetic, detailing "the soft string of her hair" and the "sway of her dress" (2), which only increases the importance of her figure as defined by light. In his only conversation with Mangan's sister, the boy focuses primarily on "the light...the lamp in front of our door [catching] the white curve of her neck, [illuminating] her hair...and her hand" (2) . Only in the light does the boy feel an attraction towards Mangan's sister, an attraction that is purely superficial and without any meaningful basis. All signs point to light, despite all ideas.