Dubliners: Adolescence

Eveline

Joyce left Ireland in 1902 to study Medicine in Paris (which he abandoned), again in 1904 in self-imposed exile with Nora Barnacle to Zürich (then Trieste, Rome, and finally settling back in Trieste), again in 1909 after a visit with his family, and finally in 1912 in an attempt to publish all 15 short stories into the collection of Dubliners (which was finally published in 1914). After 1912, Joyce never returned to Ireland. In 1914, Dubliners was published. 

Eveline was first published in September 1904 as an individual story in the journal the Irish Homestead. Written before his self-imposed exile with Nora (October, 1904), Joyce's sentimentality for Ireland and the longing to escape the economically crippling decay lays evident in "Eveline." Eveline seems to be the feminized sentimentality and conflict Joyce maintained toward Ireland: a caustic, abuse relationship held together by familial obligation and limited opportunity. Joyce's mother seemingly finds her way into the piece, having dies in 1902, and serving as a ghostly figure pushing Eveline into maintaining familial ties.

Fittingly, this piece marks the transition from childhood into adolescence and adulthood in this novel. This is the first protagonist/narrator clearly identified and named. She is also the most self-reliant up to this point. The omission of names up to this point suggests that Joyce does not believe in the consistency of identity in children; only in the transition into responsibility and the capability to exile oneself and project oneself fully does individualism begin to form.

Joyce seems to challenge this in his later works, too, as characters such as Stephen have seemingly escaped their familial confines through their financial independence (despite the poverty), but find the remnants of their faith, the deaths of family members, and their prior schooling acting as ghosts on their consciousnesses. Bloom, too, is unable to escape his history and is confined by his Jewish heritage and faith, the haunting memory of his young son, and the lascivious possibilities of his daughter.

Thus, the eyes that give "no sign of love or farewell or recognition" at the end of Eveline signal the stark reality that people are encumbered by their surroundings, intertwined with the destiny of Dublin and the people in it.

"Eveline" Performed by Dubliners: A Quartet

After the Race

They can't all be winners, can they? I'm going to keep this one short as I don't think this short story matches the quality and depth of the others. 

Joyce seems to be creating an aesthetic experience here, focusing on the wealth of the race car drivers amid the poverty stricken streets of Ireland. Jimmy seems to be consumed by the Frenchman's and American's wealth by the end, losing his economic stability. Maybe a parable for treatment of Ireland on an international scale?

Two Gallants

I need to revisit this one, but let me get a few notes down before I forget them.

Lenehan is a vicarious chap. He seems lost and looking for purpose and directly contrasts Little Chandler from "A Little Cloud" a few short stories later. Primarily, Lenehan's belonging to the streets of Dublin contrasts many of the characters' entrapment in their homes, or the revelry they find there. Ultimately, Joyce seems to create 4 places of residence in Dubliners: the streets of Dublin, the home oppressed, the home as refuge, and away (From Ireland). 

In "Two Gallants," Dublin houses Lenehan much like Dublin housed the young, roving boys from "Araby" and "An Encounter," and with similar freedom of expression and movement as found in "After the Race." They are free from the restraints of their parental figures, religious ones, or other members. In fact, Lenehan frequently uses the streets of Dublin to escape social interaction and the seemingly oppressive role they place him in: a clown. Religious restraints, dreams, familial obligations, and more still oppress all those characters even as they walk about Dublin, but with far less vigor than as when they are present in their homes.

Consequently, Dublin functions as an escape. I'll revisit the piece and write some more about the characters. Some of the slang (I'm not Irish) and inferences through off my basic reading comprehension (I missed the prostitution elements).  

The Boarding House

Building off of the places and settings before (see "Two Gallants" writing response), Joyce abandons the streets of Dublin and depicts two variations of the home: turmoil and refuge. In this case, the home as turmoil is described in the exposition, pushing Mrs. Mooney and her daughter, Polly Mooney, to eventually own and manage a boarding house. This, consequently, becomes the home of refuge for the women, as Joyce depicts them as entrepreneurial, self-sufficient, and resolute (a stark contrast to the impulsive violence and incompetence of Mr. Mooney).

Polly's relationship with Mr. Doran, though, seems to echo some of the Catholic shame of sexuality established in "Araby" but with a more mature light. Mr. Doran reflects on his own years where he abandoned God in his 20s (surely a reflection of Joyce's beliefs during this time, considering the autobiographical nature of his works and the content of Portrait... and Ulysses) and returned to a willful oppression that would help guide his actions and morality.

Polly seems less religiously influenced, so her silent reflection and 'revelry' toward the end of this selection is much more greatly left to inference. She must have reflected on the nature of her relationship with her father, her mother, and her own desires. Unlike Eveline from "Eveline," she does not wish to abandon a home in turmoil. Unlike the boy from "Araby" or Mr. Doran, she doesn't seem to have any particular shame for her act or for the child itself. Instead, he dread seems to stem from the anticipation of outcome: who will raise this child with her?

Toward the end of the short story, it's clear that Mr. Doran is to propose. Her dread subsides and the majority of the outcome is left for careful readers to deduce. Polly seems to only have 1 genuinely disturbing element left in her life: her father. All other influences seem to be pulling in her favor, though, with a future husband directed into morality through his own willful reacceptance of religious faith and duty, and a resilient mother driven by a sense of duty and justice. This is a happy ending, about as happy as they come in Joyce.