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The Unconscious Struggle for Human Existence

According to philosopher Karl Marx, humans are "slaves to historical necessity and their thought and thinking are rigidly determined by the mode of production" (Beer xxii). This view of historical materialism asserts that the culture, political, and government systems of a given people derive from the material conditions of their existence. Thus, "life is not determined by consciousness, but consciousness by life"(Reader 155). In the short story, "The Boarding House", James Joyce uses Mrs. Mooney to illustrate how the "blind forces" of economic materialism determine our existence and causally result in our living by a false consciousness.

The prevailing economic condition in Dublin, Ireland determines Mrs. Mooney's disposition in running her boarding house. Because of the destructive potato famine, a good portion of the city's men have fled in search of work elsewhere, leaving behind a surplus of women desperately searching for companions. Due to the lack of men, Mrs. Mooney is under more pressure to get her young, daughter Polly married and eliminate the possibility of her ending up an old maid. Reflecting the present economic ideology, Mrs. Mooney understands that her ultimate goal is to get Polly "off of her hands" and


ses her in the act. Also, Polly brags about her lack of couth, when she sings, "I'm a naughty girl. You needn't sham: You know I am" (73). Next, Mrs. Mooney's determination to repair her daughter's loss of honor reflects her false consciousness. Polly barely holds onto anything considered honorable in the first place. She is lewd, not intelligent, and speaks with horrible grammar. Lastly, reflecting society's argument, Mrs. Mooney considers the whole situation the man's fault with Polly, the innocent victim, being lured into the affair. Realistically, Polly is not the tragic victim, "bearing the brunt" of the situation (75). She knew exactly what she was doing and was not at all surprise to find herself pregnant. This is apparent at eh end of the story when Mrs. Mooney is about to confront Mr. Doran. After Polly melodramatically moans, "O my God", and pleads for Mr. Doran's to relieve her of her anguish, she takes notice of her white pillows and falls into a revery, "!

In Marx's view, the only way to consciously control these blind forces of materialism is to eliminate the struggles and conflicts of social classes. With everyone equal, no one will associate their wills and friction amongst the public will be destroyed. Political power, "the organized power of one political class for oppressing another", will cease to exist as well (Beer 32). Mrs. Mooney would not be as determined in her ways, had she not been born on the bottom rung of the economic ladder. As such, Mr. Doran would have been able to spot the trap were he not controlled by his economic position and duty to reflect the creeds of the Catholic Church. Eliminating class structure would inevitably eliminate one's abiding by a false consciousness in that we would view people as they really are and not what we make them out to be. Ideology would no longer represent the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence. The ultimate gain in this process!

The economic condition also controls Mrs. Moooney's optimistic views in handling Mr. Doran. Furthering his perfect attributes for being a husband, Mooney "knew he had a good screw for one thing and she suspected he had a bit of stuff put by" (Joyce 76). Mrs. Mooney realizes that publicity of Duran's action for Mr. Doran would mean the risk of him losing his job and the taint of his well established, pious character. Marx can explain why Doran agrees more with reparation due to his promising, economic position. In this time of economic repression, Mr. Doran knows he can not quit one job and easily find another. This is further evidence of the power of materialism that governs human lives. Doran values his monetary rank so that he sacrifices every subjective influence. "A serious, not rakish young man", Mr. Doran deeply respects his job as a Catholic wine merchant and fears what wrath his employer Mr. Leonard would leash upon him if his action were to go public. Refl!

Mrs. Mooney's role as a butcher's daughter causally effects the way she handles the quest for Polly's mate. Being such a daugther, she has grown accustomed to preventing emotions from interfering with her duties, and has acquired a strong, business-like attitude to all subjective affairs. This is revealed likening marriage to a "business", negating love as being an influential factor (Joyce 72). Neither subtle nor understanding, "she dealt with moral problems as a clever deals with meat" (74). When Polly gets pregnant, Mrs. Mooney fails to consider Mr. Doran's pains and jumps to the conclusion that Doran is at fault and the two must be married at once. "Evident by the decisive expression of her great flourid face", Mrs. Mooney is fully aware that Mr. Doran is stewing about, anxious to converse with her on the reparation issue. Instead of taking pity on his dilemma, Mrs. Mooney tosses all emotions aside and rigorously continues on her mission. Mrs. Mooney in turn lives!

no longer any pertur

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Approximate Word count = 2707
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)


  

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