A Similar Life Within A Story Eveline by James Joyce

The heartache of losing a loved one is indescribable. Many people live out their lives based off how that one person would want them to live. James Joyces short story, Eveline, is an example of how promises are hard to break. As James Joyce writes his stories, his characters and themes share similarities within his own life, giving them more value and much more meaning behind the importance of the story. To begin with, Eveline is the story of a young teenager facing a dilemma where she has to choose between living with her father, who has beaten her in the past, and escaping with Frank, a sailor which she has been with for some time. This story is one of fifteen stories written by James Joyce in a collection called Dubliners. The†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"Eveline† and â€Å"The boarding house† are two stories written by Joyce, where he writes about the effects of the Irish society on younger girls. The heroin Evelyn, portrayed as a young girl burdened by responsibilities, represents the joyless life of the Irish. (The Explicator). Having lived through his childhood up to the end of his university education, Joyce has become aware of the life in Ireland and the ambition of young people to leave Ireland and be what they say, free. In these two stories however, there is a kind of weakness in the two different girls because at the end of the stories, they both cho ose to continue their domestic roles. â€Å"Eveline† and â€Å"The boarding house† offer two portrayals of women whose lives are structured and controlled by the stigma of femininity that are attached to them by the stigma of their patriarchal societies. Each ends up serving a domestic role, one realizing the gendered aspect of their fate, the other not aware of any other option (Ingersoll). In these stories, Joyce writes about the rigid society which he grew in and how it affects these two girls in each case. Another pattern, probably the most significant, is his catholic family background. Eveline comes from a strongly catholic family, her mother was catholic while she was alive, and Harry, her brother, is in the church decorating business. The picture of the priest which hangs on the wall in their house and whom she knew nothing about is alsoShow MoreRelatedEveline1643 Words   |  7 PagesIn â€Å"Eveline,† James Joyce uses the juxtaposition of the ever-ch anging setting and the unchanging stoic character of Eveline in order to exemplify the character’s reluctance and inability to move forward. James Joyce is known for his juxtaposition of light and dark throughout his short stories, specifically in his story â€Å"Araby.† I would argue that Joyce is using the contrast of opposing forces described above between the setting and the character in a similar way as he was light and dark. â€Å"Araby†Read More The Theme of Escape in James Joyce’s Dubliners Essay1073 Words   |  5 PagesThe Theme of Escape in James Joyce’s Dubliners 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 â€Å"Eveline, â€Å"Counterparts†, and the â€Å"Dead†, characters are faced with autonomous decisions that shape their lives. This forlorn world casts a gloomy shadow overRead MoreThe Story Of An Hour And Eveline Analysis1817 Words   |  8 PagesKate Choplin’s â€Å"The Story of an Hour† and James Joyce’s â€Å"Eveline† are two short stories that have an unpredicted storyline to it. Everyone doesn’t quite enjoy reading short stories in literature, but in the short story â€Å"The Story of an Hour† Kate Choplin makes a very subtle but strong statement towards women’s rights. In the short â€Å"Eveline† James Joyce is about living your life in a promise. Choplin uses different symbols within the story to represent freedom, the existence of self-assertive, andRead MoreEssay on Male and Female Paralysis in James Joyces Dubliners3585 Words   |  15 Pagesthat each story within James Joyce’s Dubliners contains a theme of paralysis. In fact, Joyce himself wrote, â€Å"My intention was to write a chapter of the moral history of my country and I chose Dublin for the scene because that city seemed to me the centre of paralysis† (Joyce, letter to Grant Richards, 5 May 1906). Contained in this moral history called Dubliners are twelve stories that deal with the paralysis of a central male character and only four that deal with so called paralysis within a centralRead MoreAraby: an Outline Commentary1533 Words   |  7 PagesAraby: An Outline Commentary ‘The Sisters’ and ‘An Encounter’ are about the same length. ‘Araby’ is roughly a hundred lines shorter than these. There is a progression in the three stories. The boy in ‘The Sisters’ is a passive witness, limited in his capacity to act by the weight of the adults about him. The boy of ‘An Encounter’ rebels against this oppression but his reward is the menace of a bizarre and abnormal adult. The boy in ‘Araby’ strives both to act and to realize an actual affectiveRead MoreLecture on Short Story5432 Words   |  22 PagesThe short story Narrative genres, such as the novel or the short story, are born out of the very powerful human need to tell stories, out of our fundamental desire to give shape to experience in order to understand it and share it with the community. Through story telling early communities made sense of natural phenomena, unexpected events, and personal experience. Storytelling enabled them to pass on valuable information and to keep the memory of their ancestors alive down the generations. StorytellingRead More Personal Paralysis in Dubliners by James Joyce Essay1852 Words   |  8 PagesPersonal Paralysis in Dubliners by James Joyce Imagine being paralyzed; unable to move freely. Most people when they think of paralization, it is connected to the physical. However, paralysis takes on more than one meaning and goes way beyond physicality. There are three definitions from Webster online: 1. Complete or partial loss of function especially when involving the motion or sensation in a part of the body 2. Loss of the ability to move 3. A state of powerlessnessRead More Triangular Structure in James Joyces Dubliners1970 Words   |  8 PagesTriangular Structure in James Joyces Dubliners Within the body of literary criticism that surrounds James Joyces Dubliners is a tendency to preclude analysis beyond an Irish level, beyond Joyces own intent to create the uncreated conscience of [his] race. However, in order to place the text within an appropriately expansive context, it seems necessary to examine the implications of the volumes predominant thematic elements within the broader scope of human nature. The psychic dramaRead MoreEssay on James Joyces Dubliners: Two Gallants2403 Words   |  10 Pages    In Two Gallants, the sixth short story in the Dubliners collection, James Joyce is especially careful and crafty in his opening paragraph. Even the most cursory of readings exposes repetition, alliteration, and a clear structure within just these nine lines. The question remains, though, as to what the beginning of Two Gallants contributes to the meaning and impact of Joyces work, both for the isolated story itself and for Dubliners as a whole. The construction, style, and word choiceRead MoreEssay about Gender Roles in Society1016 Words   |  5 PagesGender Roles in Society Suggested roles of all types set the stage for how human beings perceive their life should be. Gender roles are one of the most dangerous roles that society faces today. With all of the controversy applied to male vs. female dominance in households, and in the workplace, there seems to be an argument either way. In the essay, â€Å"Men as Success Objects†, the author Warren Farrell explains this threat of society as a whole. Farrell explains the difference of men and women