Dubliners Essay

Dubliners by James Joyce, is broken up into four distinctive parts: childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and death. Though the chapters hold different characters, the book in its entirety shows Joyces view on life in Ireland in the 1900s.

The first section, childhood, portrays life for children as disappointing. The characters in the stories also seem to have little power in their own lives. In An Encounter, two boys decide they want to have an adventure. Instead of having a great day away from school, they come across a strange man who makes them feel uncomfortable and weary. It paints the world as dismal and gray, not the world they were expecting or hoping for. In Araby, the boy has no control over his own life and cant do the one thing that he really wants to, buy a gift for the girl he likes from a bazaar. After his best efforts, he is left disappointed and angry. In these stories, the hope that the children have of a positive world is crushed.

The next part revolves around adolescence. The characters in these stories are driven by lust and greed. In Eveline, the character wants to leave her father behind to pursue love, but is held back by herself. In After the Race, Jimmy mindlessly gambles his money away. In Two Gallants, Lenehan and Corley use a maid to steal money, and in The Boarding House, Mr. Doran is forced into a life he doesnt want because of his lustful actions. The characters in these stories are reckless and/or confused, and the futures that lay ahead of them seem bleak.

In the adulthood section, the characters all seem trapped by their own lives. In A Little Cloud, Little Chandler dreams of writing but feels held back because of his family. In Counterparts, Farrington is a failure at work and an alcoholic who has no outlet for his rage except to beat his innocent son. In Clay, Marias life seems to revolved around trivial matters that keep her from dealing with real problems. Mr. Duffy in A Painful Case loses the one love he ever had years before her death because of his fear of change. This section portrays adults as hopeless people who either feel they cant change or who are scared to try.

The last part, the dead, is the only section in which there seems to be hope. When Gabriel hears the story of his wifes old love, it seems to spark something inside him that may initiate change. However, its not for sure, and being the final chapter of the book and being titled The Dead, it seems to signify that this hope for change has come too late.

Dubliners paints a dark world by following multiple characters with similar fates through their lives in Ireland. Though there are different characters, it seems as though it represents the mass population of Dublin as a people. Children, who start out hopeful but end with disappointment, turn into reckless adolescents. They then enter adulthood, where they are trapped by their own lives. Death comes for all, and it seems to be the only escape from the pattern. All are one in Joyces Dubliners.