Throughout this short story Joyce uses strong imagery to suggest stagnation. He writes, "in her nostrils was the odour of dusty cretonne. She was tired" (Joyce 25) and later tells, "Her time was running out but she continued to sit by the window" (28). In both quotes Joyce gives us a sense of her inability to stand up and move out of that chair. This coupled with Eveline's descriptions of her home life paint a sad picture of her mental state. Her father abuses her harshly now that her mother has passed, and her brother moving away has left her as the only recipient of her father's aggression. Secondly, while all this is going on Eveline has become the maternal figure for "the two young children" (27), whom she must take care of and provide for. Her income is stolen to feed her father's alcoholism and her every action is met with castigation by her boss and family. Overall her life is very depressing, yet her paralysis cripples her to the point that Joyce says, "It was hard work—a hard life—but now that she was about to leave it she did not find it a wholly undesirable life" (27). More than anything I believe this quote gives meaning to the story because Eveline, even with a profound hatred for her situation, cannot find it within herself to leave. She goes so far as to convince herself that her life is not so bad, merely so that she does not have to leave. Her paralysis traps her with such force that she even lies to herself.
Clearly "Eveline" represents the theme of paralysis for Dubliners as a whole. With her inability to leave Ireland and escape from this brutish and crass culture, Eveline shows how the Irish people are trapped in nostalgia and tradition and are thus afraid to move on. I would ask the class though whether or not Eveline is meant to be read as a tragic figure or not? Also, what figurative role does Frank play in the work? Should he be considered a savior as Joyce believed himself to be?
These are great arguments for the state of paralysis that Eveline finds herself in. One point you touched upon which I think is extremely crucial is her taking on the maternal role for the two children, which holds importance not only as being another reason for her not to leave but also because of the relationship she had with her own mother. Firstly, there is her promise to her mother "to keep the home together as long as she could,"(28) which obviously is a powerful reason against her leaving. In addition to this, her reaction to her recollection of her mother's death is a fear so strong that she actually arises from her chair for the first time in the story and yearns to leave immediately: "Escape! She must escape!" (28). At the same time, however, she clearly recalls her promise once again at the station when she "prayed to God to direct her, to show her what was her duty" (29). Through the use of the word "duty", we see just how strong her promise and other memories of her past bind her, for this word implies that she is obligated to stay, and her asking God for her duty reveals that she may believe that leaving would be a sin. Put simply, I believe that as much as she is terrified by a life in Dublin, she also seems convinced that not sharing the same fate as her mother would be wrong.
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ReplyDeleteI think it's clear though that Eveline does not ever really come to any conclusion at any point. She's not aware that she's paralyzed. Her epiphany comes on a "sudden impulse of terror" and not from calm reflection (28). The paralysis Joyce provides as Eveline sits at the window and as her face remains "passive" at the end of the story masks the "internal cry of anguish," but Eveline doesn't fully comprehend her own struggle(29). The reader cannot go as far as to say that Eveline has "profound hatred" for her situation. The only apparent problem is that Dublin has so ruined her that she cannot decide what she thinks or why and must revert to routine.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm just trying to make the point that Eveline unthinkingly returns to the tradition of Dublin and does not really convince herself of anything as much as she falls victim to what she's grown up with.
I think I'm groping for my point here. Can anyone help me out? Is anyone having a similar train of thought? I had to delete my last one because it wasn't really making sense.
Justin, I think you're definitely right that Eveline unthinkingly returns to the tradition of Dublin without really convincing herself of anything. She falls victim to what she has grown up with even as she commits what is seemingly an ultimate act of freedom and defiance. In going to the dock with Frank she directly disobeys her father’s wishes, and Eveline finally seems prepared to take action and move away, but she freezes up at the last moment. She becomes like a stunned animal who needs Frank to “h[o]ld her hand,” and she “answer[s] nothing” (40). Joyce eventually directly describes her as “passive, like a helpless animal,” and she seems almost inhuman in that her eyes give Frank no sign of “love, farewell, or recognition” (41). Even Franks pleas to her sound like commands to a dog as he calls “Come!...Come!...Eveline! Evvy!” (41). Understandably, the large crowds and the importance of her decision overwhelm Eveline. However, usually one would expect a person in her position to make a risk-filled, emotion-driven decision, like to go with Frank. Instead, in her flustered state Eveline falls back into paralysis, which suggests the pervasive power of Dublin's stagnation in that it has become like instinct.
DeleteWell put. It's like instinct. I think Joyce wants us to understand that Dublin is at fault, not the characters. So an unthinking or instinctual return to tradition signifies a more ominous and overarching societal problem.
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