https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn22WSkh8Ag "Dusty
Windowsill" seems rather fitting with the setting
Henry has already done a good job of demonstrating Eveline's paralysis through her inability to leave her depressing life behind, so I will focus on how Joyce utilizes two particular literary devices (the passive voice and close third person/free indirect narration) to establish this paralysis at the beginning of "Eveline."
In the opening lines of the short
story Joyce paints a picture of inactivity as Eveline reminisces about her
childhood. He writes that evening “invade[s] the avenue,” connoting a general
air of passivity, and rather than describing Eveline taking action, writes that
“her head was leaned against the window” (36). This establishment of the
passive voice alludes to the stasis of Eveline’s life that Joyce reveals
through her holding onto the past. He demonstrates the nostalgia she feels by
bringing her voice to life in the form of close third person or free indirect
narration. For example, although Joyce does not mark the exclamation with quotation
marks, it is Eveline who thinks “Home!” upon her seeing the “familiar objects”
of her room (37). She is accustomed to the smells and the dust that she cleaned
“once a week for so many years,” and thus fixates on those things as she
contemplates moving away (37). Eveline longs for the past so strongly that even
though she “felt herself in danger of her father’s violence,” she spends her
time recalling the few fond memories she has of him (38). Together, these
patterns of passivity and cherished memories that Eveline cannot let go of
begin to establish Joyce’s theme of paralysis.
I hope it is not frowned upon to pose a question not directly related to your post, but maybe as a starting point for another post or comment, I was wondering what people's thoughts were on the "bright brick houses with shining roofs" that have been built on the field where the children used to play. This is only mentioned very briefly but I found it interesting because we would expect this sort of progress to be viewed in a positive light by Joyce, but the progress here does not seem all too positive as it has tarnished a cherished memory and destroyed a place of joyous play. Perhaps the new houses are still a good thing because the field is another paralyzing memory that needs to be left behind?
Pat, a part I found interesting in the "bright brick houses with shining roofs" is Eveline notes how they are built by a man from Belfast. So I interpreted this as that outsiders from Dublin are able to enter the city and still show progress while its lifelong inhabitants have become paralyzed through the culture. While you infer Eveline thinks of the houses as a good thing, I think it could mean taken that she dislikes the progress made in her neighborhood since it made her lose a favorite playing spot.
ReplyDeleteI like Frost's point about the notion of foreigner. Another tie in for that is the opening line of the story in which "the evening invade[s] the avenue". I agree with Pat that the housing is a good thing and a sign of progress but also understand Frost's point of perhaps a disdain for that progress as it destroyed a tradition of sorts. With all of this infringement by foreigners or perhaps the Irish "Old Guard" as well, how is one to feel at home or begin anew?
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