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.