Joyce’s portrayal of Dublin in Dubliners is certainly not one of praise or fanfare. Rather, Joyce’s Dublin is a slumbering and pathetic portrayal of a metropolis in which her citizens cannot exercise the ability to break free from the city’s frigid grasp. Therefore, the Dubliners struggle to carve out a distinct identity that contains meaningful aspects of human life. Somerville states that “Dublin has suffered a sickness of the heart,” an assentation that certainly captures the undertones of paralysis in Dubliners (Somerville 1). If it is indeed true that Dublin has lost her heart, she has also lost important emotional contexts that help sustain one’s livelihood. Without a heart, Dublin becomes a city “locked in place” with inadequate chances
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When the pair first meet, the boy quickly hones in on a “silver bracelet round and round her wrist” (Joyce #). It is oddly peculiar how a young adolescent boy pinpoints his attention to a material object, that anyone could possess, than other factors, such as her beauty. Somerville argues that “[in “Araby”] the desire to express sexuality is aborted” (Somerville 1). This argument is compelling, as the boy’s sexuality is subsequently focused on material objects, which anyone can theoretically obtain. Henceforth, it becomes difficult to express true human sexuality, as material sexuality has taken its place. In this specific scenario, Dublin’s “sickness” is so intense that even the emotion of true, authentic love cannot be experienced as it has been overtaken by a love for materialistic objects. As a result, Dublin’s citizens are unable to truly exercise their selfhood as the inability to craft genuine human emotions is compromised in such a severe manner that they can only focus on commodities, resulting in an empty and barren life. However, unlike most characters in Dubliners, the young protagonist recognizes the errors of his ways, viewing himself as a “creature driven and derided by vanity” (Joyce #). By using terms such as “creature,” the young boy now occupies a subservient realm, one below humanity as a whole. The fact that he felt …show more content…
In the opening paragraph, Joyce describes Dublin as a “channel of poverty and inaction,” a very unflattering description of the city (Joyce #). In comparison to the rest of the Dubliners, the Doyle family seems to be on a higher economic rung. The elder Doyle, a butcher, was described by the newspapers as a “merchant prince” (Joyce #). However, the term merchant seems to refer to an older and outdated economic system, lacking the modern advancement and ingenuity when compared to the economy of the Continent. This lack of economic advancement and diversity lends itself to stripping the Dubliners of fundamental experiences, such as educational opportunities. Despite attending a prestigious college, Jimmy Doyle tends to spend his time “curiously [divided] between musical and motoring circles,” ultimately neglecting his education, a true means of economic and societal advancement (Joyce #). By prioritizing these circles, Doyle squanders his one true chance of breaking free of Dublin’s sickly grip. Eventually, Doyle had been sent to Cambridge to see “a little life” (Joyce #). While Cambridge certainly is not a hub of economic activity, it is apparent than life in a small university town manages to trump life in Dublin. While at Cambridge, Doyle meets Segouin, a Frenchman with “the unmistakable air of
When the pair first meet, the boy quickly hones in on a “silver bracelet round and round her wrist” (Joyce #). It is oddly peculiar how a young adolescent boy pinpoints his attention to a material object, that anyone could possess, than other factors, such as her beauty. Somerville argues that “[in “Araby”] the desire to express sexuality is aborted” (Somerville 1). This argument is compelling, as the boy’s sexuality is subsequently focused on material objects, which anyone can theoretically obtain. Henceforth, it becomes difficult to express true human sexuality, as material sexuality has taken its place. In this specific scenario, Dublin’s “sickness” is so intense that even the emotion of true, authentic love cannot be experienced as it has been overtaken by a love for materialistic objects. As a result, Dublin’s citizens are unable to truly exercise their selfhood as the inability to craft genuine human emotions is compromised in such a severe manner that they can only focus on commodities, resulting in an empty and barren life. However, unlike most characters in Dubliners, the young protagonist recognizes the errors of his ways, viewing himself as a “creature driven and derided by vanity” (Joyce #). By using terms such as “creature,” the young boy now occupies a subservient realm, one below humanity as a whole. The fact that he felt …show more content…
In the opening paragraph, Joyce describes Dublin as a “channel of poverty and inaction,” a very unflattering description of the city (Joyce #). In comparison to the rest of the Dubliners, the Doyle family seems to be on a higher economic rung. The elder Doyle, a butcher, was described by the newspapers as a “merchant prince” (Joyce #). However, the term merchant seems to refer to an older and outdated economic system, lacking the modern advancement and ingenuity when compared to the economy of the Continent. This lack of economic advancement and diversity lends itself to stripping the Dubliners of fundamental experiences, such as educational opportunities. Despite attending a prestigious college, Jimmy Doyle tends to spend his time “curiously [divided] between musical and motoring circles,” ultimately neglecting his education, a true means of economic and societal advancement (Joyce #). By prioritizing these circles, Doyle squanders his one true chance of breaking free of Dublin’s sickly grip. Eventually, Doyle had been sent to Cambridge to see “a little life” (Joyce #). While Cambridge certainly is not a hub of economic activity, it is apparent than life in a small university town manages to trump life in Dublin. While at Cambridge, Doyle meets Segouin, a Frenchman with “the unmistakable air of