James Joyce's Dubliners

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A Literary Analysis of Dubliners

James Joyce created a collection of short stories in Dubliners describing the time and place he grew up in. At the time it was written, Joyce intends to portray to the people of Dublin the problems with the Irish lifestyles. Many of these stories share a reoccurring theme of a character’s desire to escape his or her responsibilities in regards to his relationship with his, job, money situation, and social status; this theme is most prevalent in After the Race, Counterparts, and The Dead.

In After the Race, the main character, Jimmy Doyle, attempts to escape his responsibilities as a student. Jimmy’s father pays for Jimmy to be educated in England, Dublin, and later at Cambridge in order for Jimmy to be able to support himself financially. Jimmy, however, “did not study very earnestly and took to bad courses for awhile” (36). This shows that Jimmy did not only shirk his responsibility to his father, but also chose not to plan for his own future. Joyce portrays Jimmy as a character that cannot make good decisions about his future and about his role as a student. Throughout the story Jimmy does not concentrate on education. He seems caught up in the excitement and entertainment of the race and fun he is having with his friends. Joyce says that, “notoriety [and] possession of money,” (37) cause excitement. Jimmy uses this enjoyment in order to forget and escape his responsibilities as a student. Jimmy does not use foresight throughout the story.

Much like Jimmy’s job as a student in After the Race, Farrington in Counterparts escapes his responsibilities at his job as well. Farrington is always in trouble with his boss and he seems to never ge...

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... make poor decisions. Freddy Malins shows up at the party drunk, causing problems for the host. Gabriel has problems socializing with Miss Ivory, because she does not agree with his opinions. As a result, she leaves the party early. When people socialize, they usually do not want to discuss work but use socialization as an escape from it. The songs at the party have some significance because of the feelings and thoughts they provoke in different people. The song “The Lass of Aughrim” causes Gretta to smile and stimulates Gabriel’s desire for his wife. The next song, however, back at the hotel, reminds Gretta of a previous lover. Where the first song brings them together, the second song pulls them apart. The first song, for Gabriel, is an escape from his problems to his wife, while the second song causes the wife to want to escape her marriage with Gabriel.

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