Dubliners:the concept of 'paralysis '
James Joyce was an Irish, modernist writer who wrote in a ground-breaking style that was known for its complexity and explicit content.1 Joyce was and is one of the most respected writers of the 20th century. Among his works there is Dubliners, a collection of fifteen short stories, first published in 1914 , that is often reffered as one of the finest works ever written. This particular short story collection had to be submitted 18 times to a total of 15 publishers before actually getting published.
“ I call the series Dubliners to betray the soul of that hemiplegia or paralysis which many consider a city.” 2
The main theme of the Dubliners short story collection is centered around the concept of 'paralysis '. Joyce seemed to have wanted to reveal the reality of Dublin. In this particular work of his, the characters, inhabitants of the city of Dublin seem to find themselves in a stationary universe, an modern life inferno, that they are unable to escape. Many of them dream of leaving the Irish capital and discover other places. “The variety of characters in Dubliners offer the reader several perspectives to the very real spiritual, intellectual and physical threats of this modern city.”3 Other themes present in these text are self-destruction and regress as deception,simony, truancy, drunkenness, pederasty, child and spousal abuse, gambling, prostitution, petty thievery, blackmail and suicide are present in nearly every relationship
Miranda Hill’s book Sleeping Funny is a collection of short stories that are brought together through wit of her writing and an unexpected series of events. Specifically, the stories “Apple”, “Petitions to St. Chronic”, “6:19”, and “Digging for Thomas” are relatable for readers and cover harder topics in a light and humours way. Each story is quite different from the next but can be linked together through motifs or character driven hardships.
Although the stories are not directly related, “Apple” and “6:19” have a strong connection between themes.
If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward. " These are the words of Martin Luther King Jr. Although Katniss is from District 12, where she starves and has no physical strength, she still uses everything she learned to fight and keep moving forward. In Suzanne Collins’s dystopian novel titled “The Hunger Games” a 16-year-old girl named Katniss volunteered to be a tribute from District 12 in the 74th Hunger Games to fight in the arena with 23 other tributes. Joseph Campbell is a professor who created the 12-17 parts that are mostly always included in a hero's journey.
An abusers brand of “love” is not typically what some might think; in fact, an abusers symbol of “love” are bruises, broken bones, or a red mark to where their
Scott Fitzgerald’s The Alcoholic Case is a master work of modern gothic literature, because of its theme of hopelessness. The main character is in a scenario many would never dream of; being stuck in a hotel room, drinking himself to death, trying to evade the trauma and fear in his own mind. An Alcoholic Case shows us why hope is necessary. With it, we can rise above where we stand, but without it, we fall even
Vanderhaeghe’s writing often specifies the importance of going against society’s standards. Through his story, he shows the comparison between a round, dynamic character, to a flat, self-indulged woman. His writing proves that those who suffer undergo change in a way only they can understand. Vanderhaeghe was a writer that felt strongly towards speaking out for those who could not. Many of his stories represented a fight for emotional survival that were not always won.
An omniscient point of view is told from a “god-like” viewpoint in which the narrator knows all the thoughts and feelings of the characters in the story.
London’s story demonstrates a conflict between a man and the natural world. The main characters in this story are
When one is seeking a new voyage to self-discovery such as love, death, war, or even an exciting moment in your life, it’s a struggle to find yourself when all of these occupancies’ are happening. In James Joyce “Eveline” and Tim O’Brien “The Things They Carried”, the characters overwhelming circumstances of events have a topic similar to each other’s story, love. With comparing any two stories, there is differences in a few topics as well.
James Joyce story “Eveline” is regarding about a young girl name Eveline.
In her childhood, the unnamed narrator has had a wild imagination which still haunts her: she admits "I do not sleep," and as a result she becomes restless.(653). Her imagination makes her live in an imagined world of her own and completely detached from reality. The
To convey the brutality and animosity of “The Troubles”, Seamus Heaney expressed his thought-provoking opinions in the form of poetry. His collection of poems called “North” specifically portray the violent and hatred of The Troubles during 1968 to 1998. The Troubles refer to the sectarian warfare and division between the United Kingdom and Ireland. During this time period, political infighting occurred and caused conflicts that eventually lead to a bloody and brutal war. The North collection utilises various historical context while also stylistically allude to the bygone era of the Vikings and the discovery of the bog bodies of the Northern Europe in order to emphasis the endless occurrence of brutality and violent events.
Angela Carter, the author of the collection of short stories The Bloody Chamber was an English novelist, journalist and short story writer. The Bloody Chamber, published in 1979, is one of Carter’s most popular short story collections (Carter 1). The collection consists of ten stories including "The Bloody Chamber". All stories are rewritings of fairy tales and folktales. This paper will firstly offer a narratological analysis of the short story “The Bloody Chamber” while in the second part the short story will be analysed from a feminist perspective.
Cinco de Mayo
“Under the Volcano” by Malcolm Lowry is a flashback of the last day he had with his friend Geoffrey Firmin, before his death in the small town of Mexico on the day of Cinco de Mayo. Geoffrey Firmin is also known as the Consul who is the main character that was driven by alcohol. Fighting against his elemental forces, Geoffrey was pushed to the destruction of his life accompanied by Yvonne. Time and location play a large role within this story by being on the day of Cinco de Mayo, November 1939; in its origin country, Mexico. Point of view is transported by traveling from present to past, with the change of who is speaking, emphasizing this stories main point which is the meaning of this man’s struggle in life that destroys him.
An Intimate Verging on Claustrophobia: the Language of Dubliners
Kafka wrote that “a book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us,” and Joyce brilliantly depicts the exploration of inner emotions and conflicts through each character in the fifteen stories in Dubliners. In turn, the reader inevitably contemplates their inner emotions too. Araby and Eveline are two of the stories that are not necessarily connected, yet they share similar recurrent themes of isolation and the strong desire to escape. David Lodge suggests that Joyce was one of the 20th century avant garde novelists who believed that they could get closer to reality not by "telling" but by "showing" how it is experienced - subjectively. To do so, he utilizes techniques such as stream of consciousness, interior monologue and free indirect speech.
“Cathleen Ni Houlihan”, a play that William Butler Yeats co-wrote with Lady Gregory, in 1902, is about Ireland’s fight for their independence. According to Nicholas Grene: “What is at issue [in Kathleen Ni Houlihan] is the political meaning which the play generated and the potential for such meaning which the text offered.” (Grene, 1999) The play is set in a cottage kitchen and centres in the 1798 Rebellion. The play:
“stages two conflicting narratives of Irish peasant womanhood. Mrs. Gillane and, potentially, Delia, her son’s pretty, well-dowered bride-to-be, represent a realist, maternal order, the values of hearth and home; the Poor Old Woman, Cathleen, also dressed as a peasant, represents a contrary order of being – symbolic, nomadic, virginal, sacrificial rather than procreative (…)
