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
ets Polly, her bait, to do work at the boarding house, "giving her the run of the men" (Joyce 72). nnot go back. While she watched Polly and Mr. Doran become grow closer, "there had been no open complicity or understanding between mother and dauther" (73). Although insisting she's outraged, a true outraged mother would have stopped such a relationship from occurring. However, Mrs. Mooney delightfully witnesses the situation and hopes for the right time to make Doran a husband. Playing the part of the "outraged mother", Mrs. Mooney represses her overt knowledge of Polly's pregancy, and puts on a pretence so as to showl she neither received the news in too non-chalant a manner nor seemed to have connived. The conversation between Mrs. Mooney and her daughter is very awkward and careful because both are working with information the other knows about, and are trying not to let that information surface. Mrs. Mooney knows that she cannot be an outraged mother and know what's going on. In Marxian terms, Mrs. Mooney is the creature of ideology because even though all arrows ! Another economic condition that controls Mrs. Mooney's inclinations is her position as a "determined woman" (71). Mrs. Mooney has ideas that she wishes to implement and will eliminate every obstacle that averts her purpose. In order to get Polly "off of her hands", she has to be manipulative in her society (76). Because society strongly disagrees with women being butchers, or having any means to a decent income for the matter, Mrs. Mooney is forced to take her money and upper hand position and invest in her own business. Joyce's juxtaposition of Mr. Mooney, the "shabby stooped little drunkard", to Mrs. Mooney, "the imposing, Madam", further elucidates Mrs. Mooney's determination to provide Polly with a husband and desire to order her world. Echoing the Marxist creed, the ideology of Mrs. Mooney's time is simply "the will of class made into a law for all, a will whose essential character and direction are determined by the economic conditions of existence of one's class"! Furthermore, the ideals of the economy control Mrs. Mooney's duty as "an outraged mother" (75). Mrs. Mooney recognizes that if she follows the moral pattern set up by her culture, everyone will think she is alright. Reflecting the prototypes of her society, when Polly is discovered pregnant, Mrs. Mooney, "the determined, imposing woman", puts on an appalled face and takes complete control of the situation (72). This is Mrs. Mooney's most obvious state of false consciousness. When Polly became involved with Mr. Doran, Mrs. Mooney happily "kept her own counsil", recognizing Mr. Doran as a man of business. She constantly watched the relationship evolve, gambling and hoping for the perfect time to push it towards marriage. Mrs. Mooney apprehends that she cannot let things naturally take their course and so she must quickly act on them. Upon Polly's new condition, Mrs. Mooney makes up her mind and intervenes, realizing that she has let the situation go far enough that it ca! to see that she is provided with some financial stability. Marxian language justifies Mrs. Mooney's behavior because, "Ideas are simply the ideological reflexes and echoes of one's material life-process" (Ideology 14). She first sends Polly to be a typist in a corn-factor's office in hopes that the well-off boss will grow fond of her and possibly wed her. When this option fails, she s! by her false consciousness by not recognizing Mr. Doran's feelings and assuming that her actions were the only genuine ones to take. indicate that Doran did not take advantage of Polly's innocence, she still demands life reparation for his vile sin. Though knowing all along the path of Polly and Mr. Doran's relationship, Mrs. Mooney lives by her false consciousness to reflect the present ideology. no longer any perturbation visible on her face" (79). Joyce describes her waiting on "cheerfully, without ala
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Approximate Word count = 2739
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)
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