Eveline
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Kiera Kindred
Ms. Green
Comp1020
22 June 2006
How does Joyce portray Eveline and how does he convey the speakers state of mind? How does the house contribute to the storys mood or themes? Discuss Joyces choice of narrator in relation to women during this era.
Indecision Leads to Paralysis
“There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision (Joyce 12).” James Joyces short story “Eveline” is the story of such an unfortunate individual that longs to escape her drab life but frightened by the opportunity when it comes, because of her attachment to her home and family. Eveline, the protagonist is condemned to her drab existence and is as blind to the world outside as she is to her own life; that is presented as the narrative base of the story. She has an under developed mind incapable of any personal judgment which cannot conceive of another life. In fact, there were many reasons for Evelines decision to stay in Dublin, but the most obvious were religion, family, and fear of change.
During this time, religion guided people and they also depended on each other to survive. Evelines religion helped her decision to stay, “the coloured print of the promises made to Blesses Margaret Mary Alacoque”(189); Evelines family is Catholic and her religion gave her a sense of guilt about leaving her family to go and make a life for herself. Eveline “prayed to her God to direct her, to show her what was her duty”(191) and she feels it is to stay home and give up her only chance for her own life.
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While, most of the story takes place with Eveline sitting by the window in a very dull room; she is contemplating on leaving the home and the life she has known. The room is filled with “the odor of dusty cretonne” from the curtains, and has a “yellowing photograph hung on the wall above the broken harmonium” (513). Why am I holding myself back from a hopeful future, this is the dilemma Eveline is faced with. Eveline was brought up in a social environment of strict adherence to tradition and obedience. Irish women let themselves be trapped by not leaving their traditional lifestyles or emigrating. Eveline became a product of her environment; she is trapped in this setting and does not know any other way except the way things are now for her. She has an internal struggle that will not allow her to leave the setting that she is currently in. Evelines internal struggle was “her promise to keep the home together as long as she could”(6). Even after the home has fallen apart, Eveline feels she must stay.
Even though, Evelines life is very plain, her fiancй Frank offers her the only chance she may have to marry and leave the country. With her choice not to marry Frank, she becomes a woman whom is unwilling to leave her homeland and life. Franks asserted prosperity and promise of marriage is no more than a careful statement of what naive Eveline has accepted thus, her life is a prison from which she does not have the means to escape. Evelines decisions to leave could be the end of her social existence. Peter Garrett writes, “Dubliners show the reader that saving oneself from repression starts with the pain of giving up everything one has taken for granted” (Garrett 28). Eveline even says, “It was hard work-a hard life-but now that she was about to leave she did not find it a wholly undesirable life”(Joyce 513). Eveline feels that she must adhere to tradition and be obedient by living her mothers life.
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As a result, even love cannot overcome her indecision; the story paints love as ineffective. Mary T. Reynolds writes that the young woman is “an indecisive character incapable of making a positive decision” (Reynolds 54). Eveline was fearful by the thought of leaving her home, even though her home was not desirable, she stays. Eveline cannot bear to part her faith or her bond with her family; the fear of change ultimately consumes her. Joyce is clearly attacking the concept of love by creating a character that stays in a horrible life despite the promise of love.
Finally, there are clues in Evelines own thoughts that cast doubt upon her fiancйs ability to save her. Evelines rejection of Frank is not just a rejection of love, but also a rejection of a new life abroad and escape from her life at home. Eveline stayed home because of the security she felt in Dublin and her simple life. Within her home she had “shelter and food”(188), and would not have to worry about her family or