Crippling Fears
Anxiety can be paralyzing. The fear of what is going to happen is sometimes so consuming that its victims are no longer capable of moving. The people that experience this mental paralysis “Are already so injured by their experience with society that voluntary choice is almost impossible for them” (Florence). In James Joyce’s “Eveline,” Eveline’s sad life begs her to leave, and though she is presented the perfect opportunity to escape with Frank, she cannot because her fear of change does not allow her to move.
Eveline’s dreary life gives her countless reasons to leave: “The meager pleasures of Eveline’s past are totted up among evidences of the tedium, fear, unceasing labor, and constrictions of her life” (Marilyn). Everyone …show more content…
Throughout the entire story, when the narrator describes Eveline he uses still and passive wording. He uses words like “Sat” and “stood” to describe her motions and allows actions to happen to her rather than giving her control of her them (Joyce). For example, the narrator reads, “She sat at the window watching the evening invade the avenue” (Joyce), insisting that her life is being taken over by something bigger than her and she cannot do anything but watch. Even at work she is still, “Look lively, Ms. Hill, please,” her coworkers asked (Joyce). The story forms an idea that Eveline is so anxious she cannot even answer a question on her own when it says, “She tried to weigh each side of the question” (Joyce). The biggest indicator that Eveline is paralyzed is near the end of the story when the narrator says, “she stood among the swaying crowd” (Joyce), this shows that Eveline cannot move at all, not even side to side. She cannot move because she is scared. She is scared of everything outside her home and what will happen to her if she does move. She fears what will happen to her father, what her dead mother could think of her, and what will happen if she does not like her new home. She does not know whether or not she should leave with Frank: “She had consented to go away, to leave her home. Was that wise?” (Joyce). Eveline cannot do things on her own because she is experiencing an anxiety so intense …show more content…
She wants to leave but she is scared; she is not sure what her future will provide her or what will become of her father if she leaves, and she is afraid of breaking her promise to her deceased mother. These fears weigh on Eveline so heavily she cannot get out from underneath them. The anxiety takes control of her body and she no longer has the ability to move. Eveline is given a great opportunity to trade her devastating and tragic life in for a greater one, but rather than jumping on board with this opportunity Eveline finds herself helplessly motionless at port watching the ship sail away without
Anxiety can be paralyzing. The fear of what is going to happen is sometimes so consuming that its victims are no longer capable of moving. The people that experience this mental paralysis “Are already so injured by their experience with society that voluntary choice is almost impossible for them” (Florence). In James Joyce’s “Eveline,” Eveline’s sad life begs her to leave, and though she is presented the perfect opportunity to escape with Frank, she cannot because her fear of change does not allow her to move.
Eveline’s dreary life gives her countless reasons to leave: “The meager pleasures of Eveline’s past are totted up among evidences of the tedium, fear, unceasing labor, and constrictions of her life” (Marilyn). Everyone …show more content…
Throughout the entire story, when the narrator describes Eveline he uses still and passive wording. He uses words like “Sat” and “stood” to describe her motions and allows actions to happen to her rather than giving her control of her them (Joyce). For example, the narrator reads, “She sat at the window watching the evening invade the avenue” (Joyce), insisting that her life is being taken over by something bigger than her and she cannot do anything but watch. Even at work she is still, “Look lively, Ms. Hill, please,” her coworkers asked (Joyce). The story forms an idea that Eveline is so anxious she cannot even answer a question on her own when it says, “She tried to weigh each side of the question” (Joyce). The biggest indicator that Eveline is paralyzed is near the end of the story when the narrator says, “she stood among the swaying crowd” (Joyce), this shows that Eveline cannot move at all, not even side to side. She cannot move because she is scared. She is scared of everything outside her home and what will happen to her if she does move. She fears what will happen to her father, what her dead mother could think of her, and what will happen if she does not like her new home. She does not know whether or not she should leave with Frank: “She had consented to go away, to leave her home. Was that wise?” (Joyce). Eveline cannot do things on her own because she is experiencing an anxiety so intense …show more content…
She wants to leave but she is scared; she is not sure what her future will provide her or what will become of her father if she leaves, and she is afraid of breaking her promise to her deceased mother. These fears weigh on Eveline so heavily she cannot get out from underneath them. The anxiety takes control of her body and she no longer has the ability to move. Eveline is given a great opportunity to trade her devastating and tragic life in for a greater one, but rather than jumping on board with this opportunity Eveline finds herself helplessly motionless at port watching the ship sail away without