Throughout his short story “A Little Cloud,” James Joyce considers the ramifications of remaining sedentary in Dublin through his characters Little Chandler and Ignatius Gallaher. That Little Chandler and Gallaher seem so antithetical, despite their proximity and similar upbringings, invites the reader to question whether Joyce intends to insinuate that success is only possible outside of Dublin, and that ambition and Celtic nationalism are incongruous. Having left Ireland at twenty years old, Joyce apparently aligns himself with Gallaher, who also achieved literary prominence in exile, thereby both perpetuating the notion that remaining in Ireland is not conducive to intellectual pursuits, and thus grounding his story in personal experience.
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When considering Little Chandler’s former poetic aspirations, the narrator notes that “shyness had always held him back,” therefore establishing an alternative reason for his failure (Joyce, 56). By introducing shyness as a possible explanation for Little Chandler’s inferiority to Gallaher, Joyce slightly dilutes the notion that geography is responsible for achieving literary success. Positing that Little Chandler “was sure that he could do something better than his friend had ever done... something higher than mere tawdy journalism if only he got the chance. What was it that stood in his way? His unfortunate timidity,” the narrator compounds the possibility that personal characteristics are more responsible for failure than location (Joyce, 64). Here, while Joyce insinuates that Little Chandler’s predisposition is responsible for his shortcomings, he is unclear about whether the latter’s shyness was responsible for his failure to succeed poetically, or merely his failure to escape Dublin. That Joyce remains ambiguous about the ramifications of Little Chandler’s shyness demonstrates his desire to establish two possible explanations for his ultimate
When considering Little Chandler’s former poetic aspirations, the narrator notes that “shyness had always held him back,” therefore establishing an alternative reason for his failure (Joyce, 56). By introducing shyness as a possible explanation for Little Chandler’s inferiority to Gallaher, Joyce slightly dilutes the notion that geography is responsible for achieving literary success. Positing that Little Chandler “was sure that he could do something better than his friend had ever done... something higher than mere tawdy journalism if only he got the chance. What was it that stood in his way? His unfortunate timidity,” the narrator compounds the possibility that personal characteristics are more responsible for failure than location (Joyce, 64). Here, while Joyce insinuates that Little Chandler’s predisposition is responsible for his shortcomings, he is unclear about whether the latter’s shyness was responsible for his failure to succeed poetically, or merely his failure to escape Dublin. That Joyce remains ambiguous about the ramifications of Little Chandler’s shyness demonstrates his desire to establish two possible explanations for his ultimate