Eveline By James Joyce 's Eveline Essay

Eveline, the title character of James Joyce’s, “Eveline” is a young woman who is internally conflicted which results in her being indecisive. Eveline longs for freedom and happiness, but her anxiety and doubt makes her wary and fearful of change. Nevertheless, Eveline is a woman who wants to have control of her own life and takes steps that she believes are in her best interest. As Eveline prepares to leave her home for the first time she becomes nostalgic and she reminisces on the many memories she has there. Eveline reflects on happier times such as when she and her siblings were children and played with the neighborhood children; “The children of the avenue used to play in that field” (p.407). Eveline remembers fondly on the times when her father wasn’t as angry and the moments of joy their family had before the death of her mother. Eveline has been bound to the home by her mother’s deathbed request for Eveline to “keep the home together as long as she could” (p.409). Eveline has hard work to keep the house together; she has to deal with her abusive father who she fears: “she sometimes felt herself in danger of her father’s violence … he had begun to threaten her and say what he would do to her only for her dead mother’s sake” (p.408). Eveline’s other tasks include working in a shop and ensuring two children she is responsible for go to school and are fed regularly. Eveline dislikes her boss and spends all of her wages to take care of the home with little help, although…