over my head and around the corner

Araby is a story about an unnamed boy who is in love with his friend’s sister and wants to buy her a present at the bazaar.

Where does the boy live?
Why does a priest live in the house previous to him living there?
Do all children realize that their life is no longer great at some point?

When I first read this story, I barely got the main idea and plot line out of it. Apparently the plot line does not matter. The boy is in love with a girl and he wants to buy her something to show her his love, but when he gets to the bazaar, nothing is as grand as he had imagined it to be. I figured that this was a metaphor to say that children dream about what their lives should be, and then are crushed when they come to the realization that none of their dreams matter. Basically, this story went over my head and around the corner, as stated in class, because I didn’t get any of the religious symbols or society references when I read it.