Saturday, September 5, 2009
After reading the first four stories of the Dubliners, there is no doubt that all the stories have something very unique to them. Each story seems to focus on an epiphany in which the characters are strongly affected. The first story, "The Sisters", deals with death. The young boy in "The Sisters" is struck by the death of friend Father Flynn. In the second story, "An Encounter" these two boys decide to "escape" and skip school for a day and walk through Dublin. The two boys meet an older man who talks to the boys in rather disturbing fashion. This story exhibits the fact that new experiences can end up being very disturbing. After the first two stories it is apparent that James Joyce likes to write about the dark sides of life. In the third story, "Araby" James Joyce suggests that all people look for love and new life experiences in various aspects. Araby is a bazaar to which Magan's sister wants to go. The narrator, promises Magan to bring her a gift from this bazaar. In the end of the story the boy realizes his foolish dreams. The fourth story, "Eveline" deals with the struggles of holding onto the past when looking into the future. This story, like the others stories, has a strong meaning to it.
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James Joyce has a truely unique writting style. Though it might be confusing and difficult to follow at times, I feel his subject matter is one we can all relate to. In his first story "The Sisters", the main character is going through a difficult time because he has lost someone he held close to his heart. This is something we have all sadly had to experience and go through in some part of our lives. Death is something we all must face at one point and no matter how much we prepare for a loss of an individual it never comes easy just as it didn't come easy for the narrorator. Another piece of work that i feel really relates to everyone is in the story "Araby". In this story the main character has his first crush. He went out of his way, as many of us have, to do something special for his crush, but was extremly disappointed when he wasn't able to do that for her. At first, I was unsure of how to feel about Joyce's writing, but after seeing how his storys relate to almost everyone, his style is really growing on me.
ReplyDeletePosted by Kristofer Braxton
James Joyce writes in a different style from anything I have ever read. I enjoyed both short stories this week, but caught myself getting confused at times. The first short story “The Sisters” consisted of strange and puzzling events that still remain unexplained. Father Flynn eventually dies from he suffered a stroke, but how can you explain the laughing rage in the confessional box. Exactly what was wrong with this man? Also, the young narrator had strange dreams of Father Flynn which makes me think he felt uncomfortable around him sometimes. Joyce also uses words such as gnomon, and paralysis which may represent something, but then again Joyce points to suggestions but never completes the puzzle. The next story “The Encounter” was more interesting to me. The narrator and his friends play games about the Wild West to escape from school. They decide to skip school one day and venture off. And they realize that new experiences can be disturbing. On their adventure they meet a strange old man, who repeats himself and talks about young girls. Joyce again makes suggestions but never completes the puzzle, but we know that this man is a pervert. The title of this story suggests that this extremely awkward meeting is not typical for children. Although each story has an interesting ending I’ve noticed epiphany occurs in the end highly affecting the characters.
ReplyDeleteAshley Belcik
Having read the first four short stories in "The Dubliners," it is becoming more apparent what Joyce's topics and themes were. So far, we have dealt with death, children, and the effects death has on children. Joyce has also provided us with characters with a weakness. In "An Encounter" the main character is weak in the sense that he cannot control himself to leave the old man. This character even realizes as he calls to his friend, Mahony, because Mahony had the strength to just leave and he was jealous of that fact. Another character without strength is Eveline. She wants to leave and get away from all the hard work and her mean father, but when it was time to get on the boat she did not have the strength. Eveline had promised her mother to keep the home together as long as she could. Because of her mother's death and her wish, Eveline could not leave the place she wanted so badly to. Death is a recurring theme in Joyce's stories. In "The Sisters" we learn that the Father has passed away, and as the young boy discovers this, he becomes more and more curious, and also has the feeling of freedom. This death has changed the boys life, and Joyce uses death in more than one story as a way to change it, affect the characters, and reveal to us different emotions.
ReplyDeleteLeah Scabilloni
After reading the first four short stories of “The Dubliners” I realized there were themes through out the four stories. I found that the kids all had to deal with religion on there life and attachment. During the “sisters”, the young boy was very religious and attached to the priest that had just passed. The young boy would always visit the priest and now he must deal with his death. In “The Encounter” the three boys decide to ditch religion class and go to a park. One doesn’t go and the other two go on with out him as the boys are at the park a man comes and starts talking to them. One leaves and the other one stays. The one that stayed can’t leave because he is afraid of the man and doesn’t want to be rood. In “Araby” the boy is in love with this friend’s sister. He follows her to school so he can see her everyday. He is attached to her. In “Eveline” the girl’s mother had passed and she is now the mother figure in the house. Her dad starts beating her like her mother. She tries to leave with a sailor that she has met and fell in love with but there is a certain attachment she has to her home that won’t let her leave.
ReplyDeleteEric Burtch
James Joyce seems to use recurring themes in his short stories in "The Dubliners." In every story there is the recurrence of paralysis. Every character has come to a point where they cannot do what they feel they should be doing. In “The Sisters” the narrator cannot speak out when he finds out about the priest’s death even though his uncle and old Cotter are expecting a reaction out of him. In “An Encounter” the narrator cannot find the power to leave the odd old man that was inquiring about his “sweethearts” even though anyone put in that situation would most likely leave. In “Arby” the narrator is paralyzed by vanity. He cannot get over how beautiful the girl he watches is even though she seems to be much older, and cannot keep his thoughts when he is confronted by her. In the short story “Eveline” the narrator is put in a paralyzed state in the end of the story when she is confronted with the choice of either having to stay or go on the boat with her lover Frank to Buenos Ayres. She is put into this state because of a promise that she had made to her mother who had passed away. Joyce’s writing is a bit confusing but when it is pulled apart there are many things that are portrayed in the stories that he does not actually come out and say. His writing is also very random but well thought out.
ReplyDeleteNick Romus
When first reading Dubliners, I thought that Joyce’s writing was just really depressing and kind of perverted. The first two stories, ‘The Sisters’ and ‘The Encounter,’ had subtle and not so subtle hints that the two old men were really creepy. This made me very apprehensive about the rest of the book. After the discussions in class, I realized that I had missed so many things that Joyce had written, for example the iron railings in ‘Araby’ or the same priest who died in two of the stories. Joyce’s knack for the clandestine nuances in his writing can be very frustrating, which everybody has sort of touched on in there blogs, so I know I am not alone in this. When reading the next two stories, ‘After the Race’ and ‘The Two Gallants,’ I found myself looking for the hidden meanings. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really find any. In ‘After the Race,’ I was pleasantly surprised about the lack of doom and gloom usually associated with the rest of the book – although in retrospect, there probably still is some darkness to it buried with the words. I am sorry to the people reading this blog if I spoiled that story for you. In all of these stories, I keep on waiting for the other shoe to drop. Things might be going okay, but now I always expect something bad to happen. I was happy for Eveline when she was going away with Frank right up until she chickened out of it. I was sad for both of them and a little bit angry at her. Eveline was not able to leave the place, people, and ideals she had always known for fear of the unknown, even though her life there was not a good one. This fear of the unknown, or the inability to let go of the things that are familiar to you no matter how miserable your life may be, is a theme I think we have not seen the last of yet, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteAshley Dillon
When first reading the stories, I found it very hard to comprehend. Once we discussed and reviewed over the stories in class, the reading started to become clear. In the beginning, the priest death seemed to be both mourned and yet praised. Joyce was fist mentioned in front of the priest's window looking for candle light to represent his passing. That first lead me to believe Joyce had some type of relation with the priest. Later in the chapter, he was haunted by the priest's sickly face. Joyce is going through school to become the next priest and does not seem interested. He is a boy himself and is more indulged in playing cowboys and Indians with his friends. I think it is to much of a hassle for a boy his age to be held with such responsibility. But that is how important their religion is to them in Ireland. Joyce's friends all show different characteristics when they go on there adventure. Joyce seems to be very timid abd proper, while Mahony is rambunctious and brave. Joyce is a symbol of Ireland for his obedience.
ReplyDeleteIn "Araby", things started to get a little strange. Joyce is living in the priest's house and finds old books. The book that stood out was apple tree which symbolizes Adam and Eve. With these events, it is hard to see Joyce as a 9-13 year old. He has a crush on a older girl that happens to be his friends sister. It's not wrong for him to have a "thing" for her, but he seemed a little obsessed. It's funny how a incident at the Bazaar made him realize how foolish his crush was instead of an epiphany happening between him and her.
"Eveline" was a depressing chapter. Knowing my feelings on love and how Eveline's situation was upset me. Not only was her love life a mess, but her family life was only worse. Her mother passing ended up leaving Eveline with the role of a mother. Her continuous cleaning and caring seemed to be killing her at her age. The Father was no support and even tends to be a drinker. She is in a battle between fleeing with her sailor Frank, or keep her promise to her mother and stay home. I feel Eveline needs some time to herself or to live her life out of "motherhood". Shes still a child herself and needs to have fun! I was saddened to see how obedient and devoted she was to staying home. She was not letting Frank sweep her ff her feet like every girls fantasy and leaving her Father to take his responsibility. She was drained and helpless when she was about to leave as she held on to her past. "She's a helpless animal!", "paralyzed", and "in human"!
Kassie Ligore
While reading the Dubliners by James Joyce I became aware of how Joyce writes so suggestively. This made it somewhat difficult for me to completely comprehend the first two stories that I read. After understanding certain repetitions of themes throughout Joyce's stories, I was more able to lookout for and understand his meanings more clearly. for instance, in "Araby" Joyce uses the iron railings as a metaphor for being caged or jailed in situations. He describes that Mangan's sister is caged at home, and stuck babysitting. As she tells the narrator this, she twists her silver bracelet and grips the iron railings, this is suggestive of being in jail and being handcuffed. Iron railings were also repeated in the nest story, "Eveline". Eveline, being a young girl who's mother had died and left her to take care of her father and family is trapped in her life of a bipolar father and constant unhappiness. Eveline one day gets a ticket out of her misery by meeting a promising sailor that can take her to a beautiful new life. But once the moment comes where Eveline is able to start over new, she freezes and lets the sailor leave without her so she can return to her home. "she gripped with both hands at the iron railing..." this describes how trapped Eveline is in her life, unable to move on because of her loyalty to her mother and rest of her family. This loyalty is imprisoning to Eveline and prevents her from leaving home and seeking a new life that she may deserve.
ReplyDeleteJames Joyce is very clever with how he suggests things in the Dubliners. Most of the inferences that were made in the "Sisters" and the "Encounter" I did not pick up on. Once I knew what to look for it became a little bit easier to think about the readings in a different way. The first story, "Sisters", is about the death of the priest and how he had a stroke. After I finished reading the story I was puzzled because I did not understand why the priest was in the confessional laughing. I thought it was very bizarre how the story ended with the explanation of him laughing in the confessional. I think the "Sisters" had a really good insight into how serious religion is at the time in Ireland. The idea of the strictness in religion seems to continue in the "Encounter". In the "Encounter" there were three boys who wanted to skip school and go explore. I found it interesting that the idea of skipping school which is not a big deal today is something that was not heard of at the time. In addition, I also was surprised that the boy did not run away from the old man, he insisted on being polite even though the man was weird. I believe out of all the stories, I enjoyed "Araby" the most. I thought it was funny how the narrator had a crush on the girl. In "Eveline" a little girls mother dies and all of the responsibility is shifted to her. When Eveline is finally given the chance to get away she is paralyzed in fear, and feels like she can not leave. I thought Joyce's reference to the iron railings and how that symbolizes a cage was very cleaver. The reference never occurred to me while I was reading the story.
ReplyDeleteJenn Phillips
James Joyce's style of writing is definitely unique and not really like anything I have ever read before. It is a lot of decoding and reading more into the story than what is actually written which is hard to get used to. The first story "The Sister's" was all about death. A priest dies and the narrator as mixed feelings about it, he is both mourning but then it says he also feels praise that he is gone. That leads us to believe that the priest was forcing him to do things that he really did not want to do. By his death he is liberated and is able to do what he wants. In "An Encounter" the boys in the story decide they want to skip out on school for one days which is an incredible deal in Ireland. They are hiding in the woods when they come across a creepy old man. One boy is smart enough to walk away but the other stayed and listened to everything the old man had to say. This was a symbol of Ireland not being able to leave their old fashioned ways. "The Araby" was about a coming of age situation. The narrator as a crush on this older girl who he obviously has no chance with. He promises her something from the bazaar but is not able to come through with his promise and he ultimitely realizes his crush is foolish. This is a big realization in his life and it helps him to grow up. The last story was "Eveline" This is a very depressing story. Her mother died leaving her unprotected with her father who was known for drinking and violence. Eveline felt unprotected and scared most of the time. She also had to grow up quickly and have more of a mother role in the house than a child role. Eveline also could not find love. She meets a sailor who eventually has to leave her and she know that she cannot go with him. This leaves her numb and basically paralyzed as she watches her first love, like so many of the others she loves, leave her forever.
ReplyDeleteJames Joyce has a very discrete way of writing. His writing is more than just what they seem. There are many meaning and symbolisms in every story. They all seem to also have a same basic story line as well. His train of thought can jump around and be very unclear, but that is what distinguishes him from all other writers now and of his time. In his first story "The Sisters" a young boy, also the main character is going through a rough patch in his life. An important person in his life pasted away. Which is hard for anybody on its own, this was a young boy who has maybe not ever experienced an even such as this in his life. The boy was somewhat intrigued the thought of death, which was odd for someone his age. In the other stories, Joyce uses characters that relate to a church, like a minister. I don’t see the link personally, but it most likely relates to the shape of Scotland at the time. He uses his creative writings to symbolize the shape of his country. For example, iron gates and silver bracelets symbolize how it’s like a prison no leaving, no freedoms. Another big issues must have been drinking/ alcoholism. All in all James Joyce is a different style of writer than most, but its enough to keep my attention for now.
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