Passage: "Darkness, accompanied by a thick fog, was gaining upon the dusk of February and the lamps in Eustace Street had been lit."
The passage above holds a strong relevance in not only Counterparts, but also Araby. "When the short days of winter came dusk fell before we had well eaten our dinners." The passage is referencing the myriad of motifs and themes that have been repeating. Both passages introduce the motif of darkness and British oppression. When the protagonist comes home to a dark house, he exclaims "Light the lamp. What do you mean by having the place in darkness?" For Dubliners, everything is dark. The protagonist is humiliated when he looses an arm wrestling fight. The defeat he exhibits is similar to the lead protagonist in A Little Cloud. In A Little Cloud, the protagonist exhibits intellectual defeat when he is debased by his British friend. The protagonist of Counterparts is defeated in an arm wrestling match, by a fellow Dubliner. This contrast shows the intellectual defeat, characterizing the successful British, and the physical, barbarian like, defeat, characterizing Ireland/Dubliners. The juxtaposition of the two stories help to accentuate the contrast of the British and Irish.
Similar, syntacitally, to the passage from Araby, the passage above is placed in the beginning of the story. By doing this, it creates the dark motif, and sets up the dark diction and tone. By choosing "accompanied by a thick fog", it alludes to a motif bigger than just the repeated "darkness". Since each story is syntactically placed to display a different age in life, the reader infers "a thick fog"as a symbol of what age brings into your life. At first is was "darkness", but as the protagonists get older and older, now "a thick fog" has accompanied the "darkness" that was already keeping the Dubliners down.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Dubliners: A Little Cloud
"There was no doubt about it: if you wanted to succeed you had to go away. You could do nothing in Dublin."
Throughout the story, Joyce uses the motif of British oppression. The whole motif, and idea is encompassed the passage above. The protagonist is the vehicle that conveys the motif. He desires more out of life; he wishes to be a poet. This dream to be, is echoed in the passage "When his hour had struck he stood up and took leave of his desk and of his fellow-clerks punctiliously. He emerged from under the feudal arch of the King's Inns". While he's day dreaming of being a poet, "he emerged from under the feudal arch", which is a metaphor for his dreams; the dreams are tangible ideas in his head, similar to the physical "arch", but they won't be pursued in Dublin, evident in the above passage; they're futile like the arch itself. The main focus, other than the protagonist, is his friend, Ignatius Gallaher, a successful Dubliner. Gallaher, characterized in the passage "You could tell that at once by his travelled air, his well-cut tweed suit, and fearless accent." He is the first Dubliner to be characterized in such a successful and respecting manner, which is why, when the reader discovers Gallaher found success in England, that the motif of British oppression is continuing throughout the stories, and that the above passage is the true focal point of the story. The dreams of the protagonist slowly digress as the story progresses. Gallaher contributes to the digression, as a symbol of British oppression. He degrades the protagonist- going off on tangents in French, referring to him like a child, until the protagonist relizes, and states, "Gallaher was only patronising him by his friendliness just as he was paronising Ireland by his visit." The passage initiates Gallaher as the symbol of British oppression, and Little Chandler as the symbol of the oppressed Irish. The story ends with his dreams, that once seemed possible, being dessicated- when he comes home to his wife and child. The end of the story is appropriate and anticipated by the reader in the forshadowing conversation of marriage between Gallaher and Little Chandler, ending with the bitter remark by Gallaher, saying "Must get a bit stale, I should think." Little Chandler has a wife and child, which Gallaher does not, which heightens the contrast between the Brtish and the Irish. It is because of Little Chandler's family, and his unhappiness with his wife that neither of them address, or choose to fix, that he cannot progress, that he continues to live in Ireland, and continues to be oppressed by the British.
Joyce puts a great amount of rhetoric into the syntax of the sentence. With the use of a colon, he puts syntactical definition, and focus on the most important part of the sentence, "if you wanted..." The syntax of the sentence in the paragraph, helps the reader to acknoledge its meaning. The paragraph begins with an uplifting, less morbid tone to the paragraph, beginning "Little Chandler quickened his pace" which is neither negative nor dark sounding. The uplifting tone flows through to the prodound above passage. The sentence is, however, not uplifting to a Dubliner, clearly stating that you cannot progress in Dublin. The tone of the paragraph diverts the reader's attention away from it's importance. It helps to foreshadow the protagonist's the lack of seriousness in the idea, and how the protagonist isn't going to leave Dublin.
Throughout the story, Joyce uses the motif of British oppression. The whole motif, and idea is encompassed the passage above. The protagonist is the vehicle that conveys the motif. He desires more out of life; he wishes to be a poet. This dream to be, is echoed in the passage "When his hour had struck he stood up and took leave of his desk and of his fellow-clerks punctiliously. He emerged from under the feudal arch of the King's Inns". While he's day dreaming of being a poet, "he emerged from under the feudal arch", which is a metaphor for his dreams; the dreams are tangible ideas in his head, similar to the physical "arch", but they won't be pursued in Dublin, evident in the above passage; they're futile like the arch itself. The main focus, other than the protagonist, is his friend, Ignatius Gallaher, a successful Dubliner. Gallaher, characterized in the passage "You could tell that at once by his travelled air, his well-cut tweed suit, and fearless accent." He is the first Dubliner to be characterized in such a successful and respecting manner, which is why, when the reader discovers Gallaher found success in England, that the motif of British oppression is continuing throughout the stories, and that the above passage is the true focal point of the story. The dreams of the protagonist slowly digress as the story progresses. Gallaher contributes to the digression, as a symbol of British oppression. He degrades the protagonist- going off on tangents in French, referring to him like a child, until the protagonist relizes, and states, "Gallaher was only patronising him by his friendliness just as he was paronising Ireland by his visit." The passage initiates Gallaher as the symbol of British oppression, and Little Chandler as the symbol of the oppressed Irish. The story ends with his dreams, that once seemed possible, being dessicated- when he comes home to his wife and child. The end of the story is appropriate and anticipated by the reader in the forshadowing conversation of marriage between Gallaher and Little Chandler, ending with the bitter remark by Gallaher, saying "Must get a bit stale, I should think." Little Chandler has a wife and child, which Gallaher does not, which heightens the contrast between the Brtish and the Irish. It is because of Little Chandler's family, and his unhappiness with his wife that neither of them address, or choose to fix, that he cannot progress, that he continues to live in Ireland, and continues to be oppressed by the British.
Joyce puts a great amount of rhetoric into the syntax of the sentence. With the use of a colon, he puts syntactical definition, and focus on the most important part of the sentence, "if you wanted..." The syntax of the sentence in the paragraph, helps the reader to acknoledge its meaning. The paragraph begins with an uplifting, less morbid tone to the paragraph, beginning "Little Chandler quickened his pace" which is neither negative nor dark sounding. The uplifting tone flows through to the prodound above passage. The sentence is, however, not uplifting to a Dubliner, clearly stating that you cannot progress in Dublin. The tone of the paragraph diverts the reader's attention away from it's importance. It helps to foreshadow the protagonist's the lack of seriousness in the idea, and how the protagonist isn't going to leave Dublin.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Dubliners: Two Gallants
Passage: "He turned to the left when he came to the corner of Rutland Square and felt more at ease in the dark, quiet street, the sombre look of which suited his mood."
The passage above encompasses many of the ongoing motifs, and metaphors, that are reoccurring in all the stories, prior, in Dubliners. The reference of "Rutland Square", a reference to any street name, or specific area has been repeatedly used in all the stories. "He turned to the left", the specificity of direction, and the names of all the streets conveys to the reader a tangible scene, and character. Like in all the stories, the dubliners are oppressed, and "sombre"- mentioned in the above passage. It is perplexing that the character would feel more at ease on a dark, quiet, and sombre looking road. The ease that the character feels is similar to the ongoing motifs of British oppression, and the lack of happiness that is achieved by the Irish. Rutland Square, coincidentally, is the scene of the beginning and end of the story. This circular, shape like directional motif is evident in many of the stories. In Eveline, for a vague example, in one of the last paragraphs, Frank was "saying something about the passage over and over again." In addition to Eveline, After The Race, begins with a car race, which in on a track, which is usually circular, and repeated- metaphorically, a car is always getting ahead, but repeating the same direction. The spiral directions presented to the reader are a metaphor for the Irish progression- always ending up where they began.
The "dark" tone of the passage is relevant in all stories of Dubliners. It holds a lot of meaning pertaining to the dubliners themselves. The character finds comfort in the dark and sombre street. This unusual comfort is blatant to the reader. The syntax of the passage puts, "He turned to the left... and felt more at ease" to inevitably make the reader anticipate a comforting detail, only to be flustered by "in the dark, quiet street, the sombre look of which suited his mood."By putting the feeling of "ease" before the "dark", "quiet", and "sombre", Joyce puts more emphasis on the words that have been repeating in the previous stories.
The passage above encompasses many of the ongoing motifs, and metaphors, that are reoccurring in all the stories, prior, in Dubliners. The reference of "Rutland Square", a reference to any street name, or specific area has been repeatedly used in all the stories. "He turned to the left", the specificity of direction, and the names of all the streets conveys to the reader a tangible scene, and character. Like in all the stories, the dubliners are oppressed, and "sombre"- mentioned in the above passage. It is perplexing that the character would feel more at ease on a dark, quiet, and sombre looking road. The ease that the character feels is similar to the ongoing motifs of British oppression, and the lack of happiness that is achieved by the Irish. Rutland Square, coincidentally, is the scene of the beginning and end of the story. This circular, shape like directional motif is evident in many of the stories. In Eveline, for a vague example, in one of the last paragraphs, Frank was "saying something about the passage over and over again." In addition to Eveline, After The Race, begins with a car race, which in on a track, which is usually circular, and repeated- metaphorically, a car is always getting ahead, but repeating the same direction. The spiral directions presented to the reader are a metaphor for the Irish progression- always ending up where they began.
The "dark" tone of the passage is relevant in all stories of Dubliners. It holds a lot of meaning pertaining to the dubliners themselves. The character finds comfort in the dark and sombre street. This unusual comfort is blatant to the reader. The syntax of the passage puts, "He turned to the left... and felt more at ease" to inevitably make the reader anticipate a comforting detail, only to be flustered by "in the dark, quiet street, the sombre look of which suited his mood."By putting the feeling of "ease" before the "dark", "quiet", and "sombre", Joyce puts more emphasis on the words that have been repeating in the previous stories.
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