The Cycle of Life

The arm wrestle between Weathers and Farrington, one of many repeating events in "Counterparts"

     In the short story "Counterparts", Farrington is yet another character affected by paralysis introduced to Dubliners, but his paralysis takes the form of repetition in his everyday life. The first sign of this is his profession: Farrington's job is to make copies of documents. The very nature of his occupation implies that nothing new ever happens there. This is further illustrated through the repeating events throughout his day at work. Farrington's boss mocks him multiple times, he repeatedly forgets to do his work, and every time he returns to it, he simply reads the same sentence over and over again. As a matter of fact, when he finally does start working, he screws up by repeating a word, "Bernard Bernard"(72), instead of writing the name he was supposed to. As a result of the monotony of his job, Farrington also gets angry just as frequently as the other events happen.
     The repetition in Farrington's life unfortunately is not limited to his career. After he leaves the office and finds his friends, he recites the story of his earlier rebellion at work. His friends find the story so hilarious that they immediately start retelling the story to all the other people at the pub, and while he smiles from the praise, the repetition clearly irritates Farrington, for he urges his friends to "polish off that and have another"(75). Throughout the night, Farrington is forced to suffer more repeating events. The group travels to three different pubs, and at each one Farrington "[stands] a drink all round"(76) to keep the party going, a choice that he soon regrets when Weathers continuously orders expensive drinks and he ends the night nearly broke. To add insult to injury, Weathers even beats Farrington in arm wrestling twice, marking another repeating event.
     All of these moments in Farrington's day leave him so furious that the story ends with him letting out his anger on his son, ignoring his son's promises to "say a Hail Mary" for him if he stops. Thus, this story concludes on a bitter note without an epiphany for the main character. Is it too late for even God to save Dubliners at Farrington's age from the vanity of their lives in Joyce's opinion? If so, is it any better for one to be passive like Little Chandler from "A Little Cloud" than to act aggressively like Farrington?

A Shotgun Would Paralyze Me Too

Several times now, the argument has been made, on the blog or in class, that the stories are getting, however marginally, slightly more and more optimistic, almost as if Joyce meant to highlight glimmers of hope for Ireland and Dublin. I cannot yet speak to Joyce's final idea of hope until we have read the whole collection, but in "The Boarding House", it seems that Joyce not only stressed Ireland's paralysis once again, but also made it's power all the more potent.

In the previous stories, whenever a character faced paralysis and its negative effects, the consequences were really not disastrous, just troubling. In "The Sisters", the characters are all too nervous to completely reveal how they feel about the priest and the Church. In "Araby", the boy is very critical of his 'vanity'. In "Eveline", her hesitation potentially even saves her from a lifetime of prostitution. And in all of these cases, it seemed to be something inherent in society, an atmosphere that no one could really explain, but just had to live with. 

But in this story, Doran faces not only social damages, but severe economic and physical risks. He works for a "great Catholic wine merchant" and has a "bit of [money] put by" (76), but both he and The Madam understand that if the knowledge of his affair were to go public, he could lose his job and end up economically destitute, a far cry from the more mild results seen earlier. And the implication that Jack would "bloody well put his teeth down his throat" (79) is an obvious physical threat never seen before that Doran is understandably not willing to ignore.

More ominously, the Madam's manipulation of the situation is our first clear indication of any individual exploiting the paralysis to her own benefit. It is an open acknowledgment by Dubliners that this culture exists. Social stagnation no longer appears as an intangible force, but a very practical tool. The Madam thinks of the many reasons why Doran will have to obey her, noting his age, Polly's inexperience, and her social standing as an outraged mother. It becomes quite clear when the Madam thinks "she was sure that she would win" (75) that she exploits him to gain for her daughter a superior socio-economic status, as if it was just a game.

We know from the story's start that the Madam's own marriage quickly soured and she, despite the overwhelming  stigma, was able to leave her husband without social alienation. If anything, one might expect her to be more understanding of Doran's situation, but instead she's happy to force the reluctant couple into a  shotgun wedding. Is Joyce trying to imply that only cruel people like the Madam have a chance at some freedom from paralysis? Or that the paralysis is so deeply rooted in both the culture and people of Ireland that absolutely no one is willing to combat it?

Fresh Meat

            Dubliners frequently shows women submissive to their male counterparts. However, in “The Boarding House,” the character of Mrs. Mooney appears to defy this concept. Mrs. Mooney manipulates both her daughter Polly and Mr. Doran, arranging for the two to get married in an attempt to gain financially and socially.

            Mrs. Mooney’s seems to be one of the more masculine characters in Dubliners, showing it not only through her personality, but also through her appearance, being a “big imposing woman” (47). At that time in Ireland, men were to be big, brawny creatures who attempt to force and showcase their masculinity to others. Furthermore, Mrs. Mooney is the owner of the boarding house, a position that women typically did not hold. Men were the dominant ones in the society, and a woman holding a position of ownership was something virtually unheard of. Her title of “the Madam” shows all the respect she evokes from her guests because of her forcefulness and intimidating character (47). Her title of Madam, which is also used for the owner of a brothel, foreshadows her plan to marry her daughter to a man of a higher social class.

            The character of Jack also shows Mrs. Mooney’s masculinity. Typically, children act based on how they are raised, and being a single mother, it can be implied that she raised him rather roughly. Furthermore, it can be implied that Jack knows of the scheme, as he has previously fought an artiste, appearing to protect his sister. Polly seems to be barely affected as she was sent to work in a corn-factor’s office. Mrs. Mooney’s cunning can be seen through her use of Polly, “[giving] her the run of the young men” (48). She plans to find the right man who can help raise their social standing.

Mrs. Mooney appears to be very headstrong, as “[she] dealt with moral problems as a cleaver deals with meat” (49). Stubbornness is usually considered to be a male characteristic, and comparing her thinking process to that of a butcher, Joyce places the image of manliness within Mrs. Mooney’s character. She does not care that she is creating a marriage based on trickery and blackmail. In a way, Mrs. Mooney is priming up Polly to sell to a man in order to earn money, similarly to how a butcher prepares meat for sale. Mrs. Mooney also butchers Mr. Doran’s freedom by binding him to her daughter through blackmail. Throughout this story, Joyce appears to use a metaphor likening Mrs. Mooney to a butcher, also stating that she was a butcher’s daughter.

Committed to Love

                Throughout Dubliners, most of the instances of paralysis have prevented people from moving or taking action.  But in “The Boarding House,” Mr. Doran is paralyzed not by an inability to act, but by a feeling of obligation to take an action.

                Doran, caught in an affair with Mrs. Mooney’s daughter, Polly, initially considers his options.  Essentially it comes down to running away or staying and marrying her.  He cannot try to avoid the problem hoping nobody will find out because, “everyone knows everyone else’s business” in Dublin (51).  Inevitably his boss would find out and his job would be at risk.  He has resigned himself to marriage, seeing it as the only realistic option.

                On his way down the stairs to meet with Mrs. Mooney, he pauses to clean his glasses.  This small action has symbolic importance.  Doran is not seeing clearly, and, considering that he apparently does this often, may not have been seeing clearly when he took up with Polly.  At one point on the steps he, “longed to ascend through the roof and fly away to another country” (53).  Doran wants to escape, just as the boy in “An Encounter” wanted to get away from the creepy man, but in this case there is no means of escape.  Furthermore, he passes by Polly’s violent brother, Jack, whose aggressive tendencies strike fear in Doran, further entrenching Doran’s view that he must agree to marry Polly.

                Even more than being paralyzed because of the necessity of taking a certain action, Dolan sees marriage itself as a restricting, paralytic force.  When pondering whether or not he truly likes her, his instinct is to, “remain free, not to marry” (51).  It also tells him that, “once you are married you are done for” (51).  While it is true that marriage is a restricting force, it is ideally one taken voluntarily.  Is Dolan’s view of marriage skewed?  Does this view only apply to his circumstance?  Or is Joyce making a more modern argument that marriage is an unnecessary, restrictive institution? 

A Rightful Union?

I think that we, as readers, can see an interesting relationship between "The Boarding House" and "Eveline". In both stories a young woman engages in a relationship with an older man, and both have a possibility of marriage and a happy life. For instance, Eveline imagines Frank's ability to save her from the hardships of her daily life, while Polly regains her composure as the end by thinking of her life with Bob. Furthermore, both stories acknowledge the ability of marriage to create mobility within the social classes of Dublin. In the case of Eveline, a life with Frank would mean the ability to throw of the yoke of her father and of the misogynistic society in which she lives. For Polly, marriage would mean the assurance of a good life with a man of a higher social class. This would allow her to have a good home, and to raise a proper Irish family.
Yet, the distinction between the works comes in their thematic elements. While "Eveline" is more a comment on paralysis and fear of change, "The Boarding House" seems to question the morals associated the marriage in Ireland. The way in which Mrs. Mooney negotiates her affairs overall is somewhat suspect, highlighted by her nickname the Madam, leading to questions of prostitution, her regard for Polly's situation is extremely disreputable. She is not at all concerned with her daughter's feelings but entirely with the financial aspect. Nor does she consider the strain this puts on Mr. Doran, whether he deserves it or not. While I do not think that Joyce was commenting on how love needs to prevail, being that he was a seemingly cold rationalist, I do think he took issue with the use of marriage as a means on ensnarement. In this case it was not used as a tool for social mobility, but as a tool for manipulation and financial gain.
A final thought that I'm just having now is that maybe the use of the priest as a motivation towards marriage and away from sin further questions the use of marriage as a tool in society. this would suggest that the marriage was ill begot in the first place, and that the church was a co-conspirator in the manipulation of an innocent man. While Mr. Doran is not entirely inculpable, Polly comes on to him, and it seems in the end that he is cheated and pushed into an unhappy and unfair union.

Some questions I have though are:
one, what do we make of Polly's lack of thought at the end of the story?
and two, why would this be a topic of criticism for joyce? Am i entirely missing the point?

Two Ugly Cowards

Joyce ironically assigns the title of “Two Gallants,” to this story because the “gallants,” supposedly “ladies’ men,” are neither brave, heroic, grand, impressive, chivalrous, dashing, fashionable, gentlemanly, nor charming flirts with women.  Rather, the characters are quite the opposite of gallant; as they meander through the streets of Dublin, they reveal themselves to be, selfish slobs, even cowardly in the way they take advantage of women.  

Lenehan and Corley's Route Through Dublin

More Detailed Map of Their Meanderings

Lenehan and Corley are ugly: Lenehan’s figure is “squat and ruddy” (36), the exact opposite of a charming gentleman.  Corley’s head is “globular and oily” (38), the exact opposite of a fashionable flirt.  Besides being physically repulsive, the men prove to be emotionally repulsive in the way they characterize and demean the girl.  They call her “a fine and decent tart” (40), and effectively reduce her to eye candy at best.  Neither has a single redeeming quality, neither man coming close to fitting the definition of a “gallant.”  They are directionless in their actions, unlike Doyle of “After the Race.”  Both characters appear to be paralyzed by the poverty in Ireland, by the fact that neither has a good job, and both accept a fate of indolence, believing their poverty inevitable and inescapable.  Lenehan, stuck in this society, turns to a life of drinking and women, the opposite of a life a gallant man would live.  Corley has taken advantage of the girl to satisfy his own impulses, and selfishly takes cigarettes and cigars for himself that come from the “family” (37) she works for.  The girl, completely fooled, thinks Corley will “marry her”, but he has misled her and she doesn’t even “know his name, but she persists in thinking him “a bit of class” (37).  While Corley takes advantage of the girl and behaves ungallantly, the girl, effectively misled, views Corley a “gallant”.  Tragically for her, he admits his guilt by his “grimly” (46) ambiguous expression, when he shows his malicious intentions by revealing the gold coin that the girl stole from the family she works for and that he absconds with.  Instead of gallantly spending on her, he steals from her innocence and ignorance.

The Gold Coin

Lenehan and the Pursuit of Happiness

                                            

                Previous posters have established that the title of the story is ironic and that Lenehan’s character is without merit.  I think that Justin is on the right track with his ideas about Lenehan’s “epiphany” and how it literally seems to effect no change in him whatsoever.  Nonetheless, it is worth looking more closely at this passage. 

                Joyce writes that Lenehan’s vision of Corley and the slavey walking together along some dark road “made him feel keenly his own poverty of purse and spirit.” At this point, the reader begins to believe that there is hope for Lenehan.  He is “tired of knocking about…He would be thirty-one in November.  Would he never get a good job?  Would he never have a home of his own?” (43) He goes on to describe how “all hope had not left him…He felt better…less vanquished in spirit.” Joyce has masterfully constructed this long paragraph, setting up the idea that Lenehan might be the first character in Dubliners to somehow break through the paralysis that envelops the city.  However, all these ideas prove only to be illusory in the final words of the passage: “He might yet be able…to live happily if he could only come across some good simple-minded girl with a little of the ready.” (44) It becomes clear at the end of the sentence that Lenehan’s desire for change and for a fulfilling life is undermined by the ideas that Dublin has imparted to him.  He thinks he can only be happy if he marries a girl with money.  He is still absorbed by his desire for some wealth or monetary gain.  After all, at the end of the story, he is only concerned with whether or not Corley succeeded in getting money from the girl. 

                Based on the character Jimmy in “After the Race,” Joyce makes it clear that even those Dubliners who are able to escape from poverty are still impoverished intellectually.  Jimmy’s father obtains wealth, but, besides the fact that he betrays his countrymen to do so, it does not give Jimmy any semblance of culture.  Ultimately, the most commendable character in the story is Villona, a useful comparison for Lenehan.  Villona is, like Lenehan, young and poor.  However, Villona is able to free himself from the mundane world of drinking and card-playing by his intellectual interests.  Although he does seem servile when he plays the piano, it is still noteworthy that he is able to play waltzes and voluntaries.  Furthermore, he commands the respect of the foreigners by discussing “the beauties of the English madrigal, deploring the loss of old instruments” and by prevailing “in ridicule of the spurious lutes of the romantic painters.” Villona, despite his poverty, has still educated himself thoroughly in the arts and in higher European culture.  Even though Joyce does not clearly demarcate Villona as the most admirable character in the story, the fact that he announces “Daybreak” to the party of men suggests that he is more perceptive and aware.  Joyce therefore seems to include Villona as an example of a man that all Dubliners should aspire to become.  He is no different than Lenehan in his economic means, but he still is able to possess a life rich with intellectual activity.  The contrast between Lenehan and Villona proves that poverty of the mind, not of the purse, is the reason why paralysis is entrenched in Dubliners.