An Examination of Eveline
In James Joyce’s “Dubliners”, Eveline is undoubtedly one of the more captivating characters. She was forced into the role of housewife after the death of her mother. Her father’s abusive nature and along with these new responsibilities leaves Eveline in a struggle to find meaning in her life and to overcome her existential vacuum and a fear of change. However, Eveline is unable to overcome her anticipatory anxiety. Instead of deciding, she becomes a victim of her own paralysis as she stands completely still and silent as if she was mentally absent. These events stated above have a major impact on Eveline.
One of the major things affecting Eveline is her search for meaning and her paralysis. After the death of her mother, she was forced into a pseudo-housewife role. On her deathbed, her mother asked her to “keep the house together as long as she could.” This promise made by Eveline would keep her clinging to the past and living in her memories. Eveline would constantly flash back to a time when her family life “wasn’t so bad” and when her mother was still alive. Things were changing so fast. With a quickly changing life and little to no hope in sight, she finds comfort and the possibility of escape in the arms of Frank . Joyce however provides so little information on Frank that the reader can’t make an informed decision about him. He seems like a nice guy, but his occupation (as her father stated plainly), the plays he takes her to, and his general mannerisms show that Frank could be a shady person. Who knows what awaits her when she arrives in Buenos Aires? Eveline’s possible meaning through her love for Frank never develops because of her fear of change and the unknown. Joyce attempts to show us E...
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...that if she doesn’t embrace change or the unknown she will be trapped both mentally and physically. As a wise man once said, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
In conclusion, Eveline is a very captivating character. She is a women trapped in a vicious circle of abuse and is forced into a totalitarian state of mind. This abuse makes Eveline become a very passive person and creates an existential vacuum. She longs for a simpler time when her family life was better and when her father wasn’t so bad. She lives in the past through her memories and continues to try to keep a promise made to her mother on her deathbed. Her life is changing so much, yet she stays the same. By living in the past and being afraid of change, the anticipatory anxiety sets in. She wants to leave but her fears keep her trapped. She, much like that picture and harmonium, is fading and broken.
The Road, a post-apocalyptic, survival skills fiction book written by Cormac McCarthy and published in 2006 is part of the Oprah Winfrey book club. During an interview with Oprah, McCarthy answered questions about The Road that he had never been asked before because pervious to the interview he had never been interviewed. Oprah asked what inspired the heart breaking book; it turns out that McCarthy wrote the book after taking a vacation with his son John. While on the vacation he imagined the world fifty years later and seen fire in the distant hills. After the book was finished, McCarthy dedicated it to his son, John. Throughout the book McCarthy included things that he knows he and his son would do and conversations that he thinks they may have had. (Cormac). Some question if the book is worth reading for college course writing classes because of the amount of common writing “rule breaks”. After reading and doing assignments to go along with The Road, I strongly believe that the novel should be required for more college courses such as Writing and Rhetoric II. McCarthy wrote the book in a way to force readers to get out of their comfort zones; the book has a great storyline; so doing the assignments are fairly easy, and embedded in the book are several brilliant survival tactics.
During the first part of the novel, Esteban seems apathetic to those around him. His incessant raping of girls at Tres Marias clearly shows that Esteban did not care towards human life and others' feelings. Although his distressed childhood plays a role, his goal of gaining power leads to being a ruthless leader. In addition, he has an to uncontrollable temper that expresses itself every time he realizes that he is unable to control the world around him. Esteban devotes his life to politics, hoping to become rich and powerful. However, by the end of the novel he is not depicted as a one-note character, rather a dynamic character. Esteban considers the past where he continues to display rage, but also understands that loneliness because of the state he put himself into. In his old age, Esteban understands the result of his actions. He feels grief when he becomes aware of how he has helped to promote a dictatorship that is wiping out his entire family line. Although he was a conservative dictator, his grief towards the product of this, shows how much he cares about his family. In the case of Clara, readers feel sympathy towards him when he acknowledges that he has failed Clara. His efforts to redeem this situation are both help redeem himself from the violence that he ensued. This also helps mitigates the bad as he becomes aware of his own selfishness. As he ages, Esteban begins to see the negative outcomes of his violent, selfish actions and becomes increasingly aware of how lonely he is. At the end of his life, Esteban receives redemption, by Clara allowing him to die
Particularly, he challenges Evey to be stronger than her past because “[it] can't hurt [her] anymore, not unless [she] allows it” (). Furthermore, the government has turned her into a “victim” and a “statistic,” but she has the power to free herself. It is Evey's responsibility to find such power within herself and become “forever changed”. Evey's transformation occurs when she leaves ignorance behind and becomes acquainted with her pain.... ...
"Eveline" is the story of a young teenager facing a dilemma where she has to choose between living with her father or escaping with Frank, a sailor which she has been courting for some time. The story is one of fifteen stories written by James Joyce in a collection called "Dubliners". These stories follow a certain pattern that Joyce uses to express his ideas: "Joyce's focus in Dubliners is almost exclusively on the middle-class Catholics known to himself and his family"(the Gale Group). Joyce's early life, family background, and his catholic background appear in the way he writes these stories. "Where Joyce usually relates his stories to events in his life, there are some stories which are actually events that took place in his life" (Joyce, Stanislaus). James Joyce in his letter to Grant Richard writes:
The stories “Eveline” by James Joyce and “Miss Brill” by Katherine Mansfield are ultimately about hope and despair and how the circumstances one is presented and how one reacts can shape the course of a person’s life. The women in the stories are both heartbroken and stuck in the lives they are in. One of them has been overtaken sadness and now must accept the knowledge that her life will always consist of loneliness and despair due to the outside circumstances that are out of her control and the other has made the choice to stay in the darkness despite the chances to move on due to her lack of courage and false sense of responsibility.
As we look closely to their description of surrounding environment, situation and their inner thoughts, it becomes more visible that they both were frustrated with their life. From Araby, narrator said it was a blind neighborhood most of time so quiet, gloomy and lifeless with a vacant house to the end. Which could signify about his restricted boring life that took his happiness suddenly. Also his indication of uncle saying “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”(110) could also mean he had to study hard and had very little reach of entertainment. Soon after his declaration “The high, cold, empty, gloomy rooms liberated me”(109) also give us a clear indication of his physiological breakdown and his lone life. On other hand, story of Eveline starts by saying “She was tired”(01). Also some criticizing of Miss Gavan from the story give us a large illustration of Eveline’s characteristic more clearly. Even so she was working hard for her family sake maybe she was not very responsive in her job. Maybe she never had any sympathy or positive credit from her coworker, as Gavan often told her "Miss Hill, don 't you see these ladies are waiting?”(02) or sometimes "Look lively, Miss Hill, please"(02). Which indicates she was perhaps too tired to even give a fake smile to her customer or she was really bored with her daily job. And her statement of not to
Like many of the stories in Dubliners, moving eastward in "Eveline" is associated with new life. But for Eveline, sailing eastward with Frank is as much an escape as a promise of something better. From the story's opening, she is passive and tired (46) and remembers old neighbors like "the Waters" who have since escaped east "to England" (47). She looks forward to "going... away like the others" (47). She admits she will not be missed at her job (47) and at nineteen, without the former protection of her older brothers, she is beginning to feel "herself in danger of her father's violence" (48). Her father takes what little money she earns and she is in charge of her two younger siblings as well (48). The sound of a street organ playing an Italian tune is both a call to her fr...
Simultaneously, Eveline acknowledges that her life, a reflection of self-centered capitalism, is in fact a waste. Eveline admits, "You know it does seem too silly to spend your life filling up rooms with ill assorted people who really hate each other" (1530). This moment is of significance; throughout the story Eveline and Mary have had almost identical experiences. Both women have lost the loves of their lives, but it is Mary, the determined socialist, who puts the ...
A story can have many different interpretations within it. Some hidden meanings can expand a story much past just the surface meaning. In “Araby” by James Joyce there are meaningful things that happen in the stories short life. Joyce does an amazing job at writing with deeper meaning and creating an in depth story. Going into detail in events in the story may lead some to wonder if there are not any other indirect interpretations present. Some indirect messages seem to be present are the dark and gloomy mood, setting, and tone given through the story, the way the narrator does everything for Mangan’s sister throughout the story, and the ending of the story and its possible interpretation.
"She stood up in a sudden impulse of terror. Escape! She must escape! Frank would save her." (Joyce 32) Although Eveline knew that her life could be beautiful with Frank, she just can not build up the courage to get on that ship to leave with Frank. The chains that bind Eveline such as her family, her fears of the unknown and her lack of response to love are extremely corroded, but no matter how much they are consumed, there was indeed no easy way for her to break away from this bondage.
Eveline had all the basic necessities at her home in Ireland before she met Frank. She lived with her mother, father and two brothers. Sadly, Eveline’s mother and one of her brothers died. Her other brother decided to move away from home. Eveline’s father, who previously was aggressive towards her two brothers, suddenly, turned his
So, along with the class, I was rooting for her. Go, live your dream and be happy. Get away from the deplorable conditions of your life and run towards the future. Leave the poverty and abuse behind. But, Evelynn wasn’t in America, let alone the 21st century. The rights and privileges of women in that time were certainly different. The few rights they had where still overcome with centuries of habit and expectations. Their responsibilities revolved around domestic duties. Their thoughts and opinions were rarely considered and could even get them punished. Knowing this, it is understandable, though slightly disappointing, that when Eveline got to the ship she began to freak out. The reality of her situation hit her full force. The natural endorphin high she was surrounded with abruptly stopped and adrenaline reared its ugly head with a
James Joyce's "Eveline" tells the story of a teenage girl who has had a bad life and was given the chance to leave with someone who was seemingly the man of her dreams. He was nice to her, took her places, and treated her like a queen. He was a true gentleman; she was never treated so nicely ever before. Her upbringing was from a strict Roman Catholic Irish family whose mother had passed away in her childhood. She made a promise to her mother while on her deathbed that she felt was a duty, and that duty was to take care of her family.
Thinking back on her past, she realizes that she is one of the only ones from her childhood left in Dublin. The window is an emphasis on Eveline’s emotions and her life growing up, always on the inside looking out. Eveline sitting near the window “watching the evening invade the avenue” symbolizes her reflection on her happy childhood and her also having to make a life changing decision (Joyce, par. 1). Metaphorically, the use of the word “invade” personifies the evening, giving a sense of intruding or imprisonment. Joyce’s use of this technique suggests that Eveline is afraid and threatened by the outside
In Frances Burney’s novel Evelina, her titular character is introduced to the daunting social world of eighteenth century women, a place limited by specific modes of conduct where girls are often seen, but not heard. Essentially orphaned, her guardian, Mr. Villars, is the closest thing to a father she has ever had. When it comes time to become educated in proper behavior, she leaves Villars for London, an apparent baptism by fire into the public sphere. As she submerses herself in this new world, the lines between personal and private often become confused, as she keeps a close correspondence with Villars. In order to progress further in her social status,