Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
How does James Joyce use real life happenings in Dublin to relate the themes of the Dubliners to the reader
James joyce thesis
James joyce techniques in the stories of dubliners
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: How does James Joyce use real life happenings in Dublin to relate the themes of the Dubliners to the reader
In response to his publisher's suggested revisions to Dubliners, James Joyce "elevated his rhetoric to the nearly Evangelical [and wrote]: 'I seriously believe that you will retard the course of civilization in Ireland by preventing the Irish people from having one good look in my nicely polished looking-glass'"1. A pivotal part of this "looking-glass" is Joyce's representation of Dublin, which functions akin to an external unconsciousness in that a series of unrelated characters experience similar problems by virtue of their common connection to the city. Furthermore, the characters absorb the city into their identities, creating a symbiotic relationship with it. This renders escape - or emigration - a bifurcation of one's identity, and thus, paralyses characters once a means of escape is revealed to them. Therefore, Joyce's Dubliners are inextricably bound to Dublin; and like microcosms of it, negotiate problems relevant to both themselves and the city. I intend to explore Joyce's Dublin, conscious of this city-character connection in the following areas: the incomplete identities of the city and its inhabitants; tradition, and colonial influences; the fragmentary structure of the city; and briefly, how "The Dead" unifies the fragmented Dublin as Gabriel gazes out at the "snow"(p.160)2.
Considering Dublin's symbiotic relationship with its people, we can resolve Seamus Deane's paradoxical summation of the city as necessarily being: "nowhere and everywhere, absence and presence"3, as Dublin pervades its characters' thoughts without becoming personified. The characters' paralysis and self-abnegation in the face of their desires is readily explained by an unbreakable link to Dublin; which evokes Friedrich Nietzsche in Beyond Goo...
... middle of paper ...
...Dubliners', p.105.
9: Ibid., p.104.
10: Ibid., p.116.
11: Lenihan, Richard, 'Joyce's City' in James Joyce: The Augmented Ninth, ed. Bernard Benstock; Syracuse Press (1988), p.249.
12: Wirth-Nesher, Hana, 'Reading Joyce's City: Public Space, Self and Gender in Dubliners' in James Joyce: The Augmented Ninth, ed. Bernard Benstock; Syracuse Press (1988), p.282.
13: Brooks, Cleanth, 'The Formalist Critics' in Literary Theory: An Anthology (Second Edition), ed. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan, Blackwell Publishing (2004), p.24.
14: Levin, Harry, James Joyce: A Critical Introduction, Norfolk Conn.: New Directions, (1941), 198.
15: Joyce, James, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, ed. Max Bollinger; published by Urban Romantics (London 2011), p.224.
16: Joyce, James, On Ibsen, ed. Dennis Phillips, published by Green Integer (1999), p.24.
James Joyce is praised for his distinct stylistic purpose and furthermore for his writings in the art of free direct discourse. Though at times his language may seem muddled and incoherent, Joyce adds a single fixture to his narratives that conveys unity and creates meaning in the otherwise arbitrary dialogue. Within the story “The Dead”, the final and most recognizable piece in the collection Dubliners, the symbol of snow expresses a correlation with the central character and shows the drastic transformation of such a dynamic character in Gabriel Conroy. The symbol of snow serves as the catalyst that unifies mankind through the flawed essence of human nature, and shows progression in the narrow mind of Gabriel. Snow conveys the emission of the otherwise superficial thoughts of Gabriel and furthermore allows for the realization of the imperfections encompassed by mankind. Riquelme’s deconstruction of the text allows for the understanding that the story cannot be read in any specific way, but the variance in meaning, as well as understanding depends solely upon the readers’ perspective. Following a personal deconstruction of the text, it is reasonable to agree with Riquelme’s notions, while correspondingly proposing that the symbol of snow represents the flaws, and strengths of Gabriel, as well as the other characters as it effects all equally.
Campbell, Joseph. Mythic Worlds, Modern Words: On the Art of James Joyce. New York: Harper Collins, 1993.
1 Joyce, James : The Dead , Norton Anthology of English Literature Vol.2, sixth edition
“Dubliners” by James Joyce was first published in 1914. It is a collection of short stories, which takes place in the same general area and time frame, moving from one individual’s story to the next. Boysen in “The Necropolis of Love: James Joyce’s Dubliners” discuses the way the citizens of Dublin are caught in this never ending misery because of the lack of love- mainly instituted by the “criminalization of sensual love” from the church- and the economic stress, and struggle to survive. Zack Brown goes through the individual short stories, pointing out their references to paralysis, as well as a few other themes in “Joyce’s Prophylactic Paralysis: Exposure in “Dubliners.”” “James Joyce’s usage of Diction in Representation of Irish Society in Dubliners” by Daronkolaee discuses the background knowledge of the culture and particular details of the city that enhance the understanding of the reader and enforce the ideas presented by Boysen and broken down by Brown. These analytical articles help support the idea that Joyce uses
Magalaner, Marvin and Richard Kain. Joyce: The man, the Work, the Reputation. New York University Press, New York: 1956.
In the story Dubliners by James Joyce, he writes about a few different themes, some of these being autonomy, responsibility, light, and dark. The most important of the themes though must be the individual character in the story against the community and the way they see it. I have chosen to take a closer look at “Araby,” “Eveline,” and “The Dead” because the great display of these themes I feel is fascinating. Many things affect the way the individual characters see the community, for example their family, friends, fellow citizens, or even new places. In Dubliners, the way the characters see the community affects them and other people around them.
In Dubliners, James Joyce tells short stories of individuals struggling with life, in the city of Dublin. “It is a long road that has no turning” (Irish Proverb). Many individuals fight the battle and continue on the road. However, some give up and get left behind. Those who continue to fight the battle, often deal with constant struggle and suffering. A reoccurring theme, in which Joyce places strong emphasis on, is the constant struggle of fulfilling responsibilities. These responsibilities include; work, family and social expectations. Joyce writes about these themes because characters often feel trapped and yearn to escape from these responsibilities. In “The Little Cloud”, “Counterparts”, and “The Dead” characters are often trapped in unhappy living situations, often leading to a desire of escape from reality and daily responsibilities.
Twentieth Century Interpretations of Dubliners. Prentice-Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: 1968. Torchiana, Donald T. Backgrounds for Joyce’s Dubliners. Allen & Unwin, Inc. Winchester, Massachusetts: 1986.
A collection of short stories published in 1907, Dubliners, by James Joyce, revolves around the everyday lives of ordinary citizens in Dublin, Ireland (Freidrich 166). According to Joyce himself, his intention was to "write a chapter of the moral history of [his] country and [he] chose Dublin for the scene because the city seemed to [b]e the centre of paralysis" (Friedrich 166). True to his goal, each of the fifteen stories are tales of disappointment, darkness, captivity, frustration, and flaw. The book is divided into four sections: childhood, adolescence, maturity, and public life (Levin 159). The structure of the book shows that gradually, citizens become trapped in Dublin society (Stone 140). The stories portray Joyce's feeling that Dublin is the epitome of paralysis and all of the citizens are victims (Levin 159). Although each story from Dubliners is a unique and separate depiction, they all have similarities with each other. In addition, because the first three stories -- The Sisters, An Encounter, and Araby parallel each other in many ways, they can be seen as a set in and of themselves. The purpose of this essay is to explore one particular similarity in order to prove that the childhood stories can be seen as specific section of Dubliners. By examining the characters of Father Flynn in The Sisters, Father Butler in An Encounter, and Mangan's sister in Araby, I will demonstrate that the idea of being held captive by religion is felt by the protagonist of each story. In this paper, I argue that because religion played such a significant role in the lives of the middle class, it was something that many citizens felt was suffocating and from which it was impossible to get away. Each of the three childhood stories uses religion to keep the protagonist captive. In The Sisters, Father Flynn plays an important role in making the narrator feel like a prisoner. Mr. Cotter's comment that "… a young lad [should] run about and play with young lads of his own age…" suggests that the narrator has spent a great deal of time with the priest. Even in death, the boy can not free himself from the presence of Father Flynn (Stone 169) as is illustrated in the following passage: "But the grey face still followed me. It murmured; and I understood that it desired to confess something.
James Joyce began his writing career in 1914 with a series of realistic stories published in a collection called The Dubliners. These short literary pieces are a glimpse into the ‘paralysis’ that those who lived in the turn of the century Ireland and its capital experienced at various points in life (Greenblatt, 2277). Two of the selections, “Araby” and “The Dead” are examples of Joyce’s ability to tell a story with precise details while remaining a detached third person narrator. “Araby” is centered on the main character experiencing an epiphany while “The Dead” is Joyce’s experiment with trying to remain objective. One might assume Joyce had trouble with objectivity when it concerned the setting of Ireland because Dublin would prove to be his only topic. According the editors of the Norton Anthology of Literature, “No writer has ever been more soaked in Dublin, its atmosphere, its history, its topography. He devised ways of expanding his account of the Irish capital, however, so that they became microcosms of human history, geography, and experience.” (Greenblatt, 2277) In both “Araby” and “The Dead” the climax reveals an epiphany of sorts that the main characters experience and each realize his actual position in life and its ultimate permanency.
30. Drucker, G. (1987) The Defining characteristic of Society: Postpatriarchialist deconstruction in the works of Joyce. Cambridge University Press
In James Joyce’s Dubliners, the theme of escape tends to be a trend when characters are faced with critical decisions. Joyce’s novel presents a bleak and dark view of Ireland; his intentions by writing this novel are to illustrate people’s reasons to flee Ireland. In the stories “Eveline, “Counterparts”, and the “Dead”, characters are faced with autonomous decisions that shape their lives. This forlorn world casts a gloomy shadow over the characters of these stories. These stories are connected by their similar portrayal of Ireland. They clearly represent Joyce’s views on people’s discontent with Ireland.
Joyce, James. Dubliners. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. The Portable James Joyce. Harry Levin, ed. Penguin. 1976, New York. Ulysses. Vintage, New York. 1961.
James Joyce is widely considered to be one of the best authors of the 20th century. One of James Joyce’s most celebrated short stories is “Eveline.” This short story explores the theme of order and hazard and takes a critical look at life in Dublin, Ireland in the early 20th century. Furthermore, the themes that underlie “Eveline” were not only relevant for the time the story was wrote in, but are just as relevant today.
Peake, C.H. James Joyce: The Citizen and The Artist. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1977. 56-109.