James Joyce's Dubliners
In James Joyce's, Dubliners, we get to catch a glimpse into the great world of Irish culture and heritage. Joyce explores many issues that confronted the Irish at the turn of the century. The constant struggle to keep money in the pocket; be a good Catholic, men and their excessive drinking, and the struggle of keeping the inner family bound together is what we see through the window painted by Joyce. His stories illustrate these issues and he was not a popular man for making them public and pointing out the many faults of Irish people of the time. Life was a difficult struggle for many of the people of Dublin and many of them had a hard time dealing with the disappointments of life. There are several reoccurring themes in Dubliners, but there are two that stand out in my mind particularly. In several of Joyce's stories, the characters deal must deal with disappointment and drunkenness. One of the first stories in the book takes a look into both of these scenarios. In Araby, a young boy develops a crush on a neighbor girl. One day, the young girl initiates a conversation with the boy. He tells her that he is going to the bazaar. The young girl is unable to attend due to a religious retreat. It is one of the first disappointment
In the stories of Grace and Counterparts, we get to see what alcohol can do to the men of these stories. Counterparts is about a fat, red-faced man named Farrington is called in to see the manager of his clerking office. His manager, Mr. Alleyne, is furious with him for not finishing a contract on time. He tells Farrington to finish the contract this evening. Overcome by thirst and sheer procrastination, Farrington heads out for a quick drink at the pub. This was not the first trip of the day; his problem has led him out of the office five times. To get out he makes up excuses that he is not leaving the office, but just going into another room. Unable to finish the contract, Farrington asks for an advance on his salary. The clerk denies him the advance. It is one of the several disappointments that will plague him that night. To get money for the evening, he decides to pawn his watch. While out at the pub, Farrington suffers a tremendous ego blow. The Irishman and Englishman square off with an arm wrestling match. To the shock and dismay, Farrington loses twice and continues to be let down by the day. As if things couldn't get worse for him, he spends all of his money and doesn't even get drunk. When the Farrington returns home, he is upset that there isn't dinner on the table for him. One of his sons offers to fix him dinner, but Farrington is furious. He grabs a walking stick and, ignoring his son's pleas, begins to beat him. Disappointment plays a key role in our life everyday. Whether it is dealing with things of a personal nature or on a worldly level, disappointment plagues us all. It is how you overcome the disappointments in life and learn from their moral lessons. Joyce explores the changing times and people of Dublin
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1174
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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