James Joyces Dubliners Essay - 1430 Words

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†¦show more content†¦The reader quickly realizes that Farrington does as little as possible at work. His boss complains that Farrington also spends more time on his lunch break than he is supposed to (83). Mr. Alleyne also explains that talking to Farrington is like talking to a wall because Farrington seems to choose not to pay attention to his boss and does not really seem to care whether his boss is about to fire him. The same day his boss disciplines him, Farrington leaves work because he cannot seem to control his alcoholism (84). He seems to use alcohol as a way to escape his responsibilities. Finally, Farrington returns to his work and rushes half-heartedly through it. Farrington does not care about the consequences of his actions and, like Jimmy Doyle, seems to have no foresight as to what the consequences might be. In the dead the results of people escaping their responsibilities are shown, in contrast with the other stories which show actual acts of irresponsibility. Gretta Conroy acted irresponsible when she chose to marry her husband even though she was not truly in love with him. In this story, the reader sees the results of Gretta’s irresponsibility; she lives an unhappy marriage and causes her husband to feel depressed. At the beginning of the story the reader learns how much Gabriel cares for his wife and how he seems to always care for her. As a result, the reader can easily feel bad for Gabriel, especially when he feels badShow MoreRelatedJames Joyce’s Dubliners Essay1493 Words   |  6 PagesJames Joyce’s Dubliners is a collection of short stories that aims to portray middle class life in Dublin, Ireland in the early twentieth century. Most of the stories are written with themes such as entrapment, paralysis, and epiphany, which are central to the flow of the collection of stories as a whole. Characters are usually limited financially, socially, and/or by their environment; they realize near the end of each story that they cannot escape their unfortunate situation in Dublin. 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James Joyce, a well-known Irish author, uses symbolism repeatedly throughout his collection of short stories published in 1916. In these stories, titled Dubliners, Joyce uses symbolism not only to enhance the stories, but to also show the hidden, underlying message of each story without coming out and saying it directly. Joyce’s stories are centered on the problems of Dublin and through his use of symbolism Joyce is able to focus attention on what problem each story is addressing. James JoyceRead MoreEssay on James Joyces Dubliners1404 Words   |  6 PagesDubliners James Joyce wrote the book Dubliners; Joyce expresses many different types of emotions throughout the book. The emotions portray individuals in society, and light and dark. The emotions of individuals are examined throughout the stories by other members in society. 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Many things affect the way the individual characters seeRead MoreEssay on Evelines Decision in James Joyces Dubliners790 Words   |  4 PagesEvelines Decision in James Joyces Dubliners      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the short story, Eveline, James Joyce introduces us to the life of a young woman named Eveline. She has the opportunity to escape with Frank, the man she thinks she loves, to a faraway country in search of a new life.   Instead, she decides to stay in the dreary and gloomy life she already knows.   To understand Evelines final decision to stay we have to analyze the reasons that prevent Eveline from pursuing a better