The Characteristics Of Modernism In James Joyce's Dubliners

James Joyce was one of modernists' writers. His efforts and his works made fiction writing a modern form, and helped the revolutionary of modern writings.

Many of his books are written about Dublin, because he was from Ireland. Dublin was a place where he knew best. He believed that by talking about Dublin he was at the same time ''penetrating the heart of all Cities and all mankind''. In 'Dubliners', which is a collection of 15 stories, many of modernist features are recognizable. We can think about these stories on two levels. At the first level, it shows us the hardship and suffering of women, children and the awful life of an individual in twentieth century which maybe considered realistic too. At second level, Joyce shows us the reality of human nature. One of the stories is called 'Eveline'. She is alone. She works very hard at a store, and also at home. Her mother is dead and he has to take care of her sibling and also his father, though he is not kind with her. There is no one to protect her. She is going to leave Ireland with a sailor whom she loves. His name is Frank. Anyway her father does not allow her to marry with Frank. She loves her father and regrets the idea of leaving. Sometimes she remembers her mother's death and the promise she gave to her to ''keep the home together''. But at the station she realizes that she can't make a decision. Frank calls for her and tries to take her on the board. But she looks at him as if he is a stranger. The story ends and leaves the reader to finish the story in her own way.

As his Stories show us, Dublin suffers from a bad social condition. There is no moral hope, and relationships have become frozen. All of them combine with each other and stop characters from any change. Evel...

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...and nobody remembers. That’s why he follows art and theater; to be immortal in people's mind. Then he accepts in university and develops a number of strong relationships. He rejects all society bonds and limitations and instead lives freely as an artist.

Joyce uses imagery in the story. He uses imagery reveals his motifs and symbols. Wet, dry, cold or hot are obvious imageries that we can find in the text. One aspect of modernism is symbolism. One of the obvious symbols is Stephen's name. We can see the association of Stephen's feeling with flight. When he looks at the sky and asks with himself "what birds were they?" he sees his own aspects in birds. They represent the distant future that Stephen is waiting for. Music is a constant motif in the story, and is the basic desire of the art for Stephen. However in each part of the story it conveys a different meaning.