James Joyce is one of the most legendary Irish novelists and poets of all time. When his novel Dubliners was published, 1914, the intertextual references were not apprehended by the majority of the readers. This is not a collection of short stories which can be read while eating breakfast.
“It is a masterpiece that needs to be carefully examined”
Interviewer: It’s an honour to meet you, James Joyce. So let’s dive right in. One of your most famous pieces is the series of short stories called Dubliners. 1914 was a time where open critic towards Irish society and the Irish catholic church was not allowed. Tell me a little something about how you managed to chastise and condemn through your writing without being caught?
Joyce: Simple, I made
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Corruption is mainly symbolized through the colour yellow. The colour yellow not only represents money, but also has connotations such as caution, decay, and sickness. This corruptness was always linked back to the Irish catholic church, which I indirectly criticized throughout the Dubliners. In “The Sister”, corruption is being symbolized through the Priest. (Carefully searching through the pages) Ah here! On page 5. “When [the priest] smiled he used to uncover his big discoloured teeth and let his tongue lie upon his lower lip“. Here, I directly made the first connection between priests and corruption. In “An Encounter”, the man had “yellow teeth” (17). This can link a parallel to the priest in the short story “The Sisters”, suggesting that the priest was a pervert as well, and yet again, showing the link to corruption. Because the order in which the short stories are read is so important, it can allow the reader to form parallels from one character in one story to another in another. In “Araby”, when the boy finds the book, fairly far in the beginning, he says that he “liked the last best because its leaves were yellow” (21). His favourite book was called The Memoirs of Vidocq which was considered inappropriate in 1914. However, it had yellow pages, meaning that it was read the most by the Priest. This shows the corruption in the Irish catholic church, where a Priest can read inappropriate novels, and at the same time, oppress the sexualities of