In "A Little Cloud", we seem to have come full-circle. Chandler sees escape from Dublin as essential to success, joy, even living, where we had earlier gone back and forth in previous stories over whether escape could actually be meaningful. Chandler articulates almost everything we have discussed in class and on the blog about the imprisoning qualities of marriage, Dublin, and social customs. The story ends in his conclusion that he will never escape, as his child, marriage, and debt on his furniture and house trap him - he creates his own confinement. What makes this story so much more difficult (for me, at least) is the question of if we are to take Chandler as a direct representation of Joyce's feelings, and my strong doubts of such an interpretation. Gallaher is successful, but an not admirable character; as shown with his use of subtly derogatory terms (“garcon” (87)) and his generally arrogant and obnoxious attitude. Chandler isn't exactly a realist, either, so it is difficult to accept him as a guide, what with his grand plans of including allusions in his acclaimed poetry: “The English critics, perhaps, would recognize him as one of
the Celtic school by reason of the melancholy tone of his poems; besides that,
he would put in allusions”. (86) So where is the guide, the moral (or critical) narrative?
Overall, "A Little Cloud" feels like more of a lamentation than an indictment, somewhat contrary to our conclusions on many previous stories. This is a general feeling I had when reading some of Dubliners last year, and it was somewhat strengthened this year: that Dubliners isn't really about direct or indirect moralizing or reforming Dublin, but simply exposure.
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| Stalin, who would have disapproved of Joyce's bourgeois formalism (as he would call it) in favor of the pictured Socialist Realism, was also very short at 5'4". Who was the realist in this story? Was there any? Could it be that absence of outright "lessons learned" is a feature of Joyce's writing that would have been disparaged by revolutionary movements? Something (obvious) to note is that the social criticisms of Joyce and Marx are very different, even though they have similar targets. Joyce's criticisms might be on a revolutionary scale, but the reader is hard-pressed to find advocacy of revolution. |
I think your right that the story comes off as more melancholy and accusatory rather than didactic. However, I think when you look at Chandler's understanding of Gallaher we get the moral compass for the story. Gallaher describes Chandler as a "pious chap," (60) probably indicative of Chandler's religiously grounded moral conservatism. Even though Joyce is typically very critical of the Catholic church, I do not think that he means to show Chandler as overly pious or conservative to a fault. At worst, Joyce may be using this to show that Chandler's conservatism will prohibit him from seeing places like Paris, but that would still only stop him from going to places like the Moulin Rouge, not the Louvre. Instead, Chandler's morals give us a lens through which we can evaluate Gallaher.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think the epiphany at the end further confuses the story, as you argue. The "tears of remorse" (68) can potentially mean that Chandler feels ashamed that he ever wished for more than he has now. This, however, would not make sense in light of Joyce's constant critiques on marriage and the need to escape. I don't know what to make of it just yet.
Chandler's morals are more likely in contrast to Gallaher's, rather than the reference against which Gallaher is measured. I don't really see where we can get the moral compass, when Chandler 1) basically wishes he could be Gallaher and 2) has no perspective on his own situation. Little Chandler was "astonished" (92) rather than indignant or outraged after Gallaher tells of the immorality of various cities. I don't think he has any moral high ground, only relative inexperience and lack of exposure to the outside world. The story is the first time he enters "Corless's", and we read how he drinks infrequently and very little.
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