What is the symbolic meaning of the relationship between light and dark in the story?

Light and dark imagery pervade this story. At the beginning, we learn that the narrator's street has "dark muddy lanes" and "dark dripping gardens." His own street is "blind," as if it were also in the dark, even though “blind” also means that the street is a dead-end. These elements of darkness suggest the narrator's lack of awareness, as well as the blindness that exists in his own community.

Light is associated with Mangan's sister, the narrator's love interest, whom he knows mostly through observing her from his house and whose beauty intrigues him. He sees her figure by way of "the light from the half-opened door." The bazaar is also associated with light when the narrator is looking forward to it. Later, though, because he arrives at the bazaar late, he finds the hall with closed stalls and "in darkness."

Joyce uses light and dark to develop the theme of harboring false hopes and having them exposed. The narrator builds the expectation that Mangan’s sister and the trip to the bazaar will lift him from his drab existence. When he arrives at the bazaar, his dreams are shattered by the shabbiness of the place. The darkening hall symbolizes the narrator’s realization that his dream was an illusion.

Explanation:

PLATO ANSWER

the book's theme is the moral ambiguity of the iranian revolution, history of middle eastern relations and the process of growing up during war. it sheds light on the stereotypical views of middle eastern culture and religion.

the author explicitly portrays the issues of class disparities and racism continously throught the whole novel.

the relationship between parents and childrens, the abandonment of faith, modernity vs fundamentalism and class conflict are the 4 main panels that this novel englobes.

hope this , if you would like me to be more specific about a specific excerpt let me know : )