Making Important Life Decisions In James Joyce's Dubliners

Making important life decisions are, by nature, hard for everyone. They are especially hard for adolescent’s who feel that they have the weight of the world on their shoulders. In his short story “Eveline”, James Joyce creates a difficult dilemma for the main character, 19-year-old Eveline, that will inevitably alter her entire life. She must either stay with her drunk, abusive father, or move to a foreign country with a man she doesn’t know anything about. Eveline made the correct decision to stay because she has a familial duty to her father, and her lack of knowledge about Buenos Ayres and Frank. First, Eveline has an obligation to take care of her father. When Eveline’s mother was on her deathbed, Eveline promised her mother that she would take care of her father and “keep the home together as long as she could” (CITATION). In addition to keeping her promise to her mother, Eveline has a familial obligation to take care of her father. Her brothers are no longer around and she is the only one that is able to assist her father. Leaving …show more content…
Why does she need to move do a whole different country? Eveline could easily move in with Frank and leave far enough way that she is not near her father but close enough that she is in the same country. It seems as if moving is too big of a risk with multiple consequences that could occur. It also seems that Eveline is only moving with Frank to run away from her issues at home. It is obvious that Eveline is unhappy with her life and having to take care of her drunk father so she decides she needs to do something drastic to get away. Frank seems to comes at the perfect time to sweep Eveline away and take her away from her problems in her life. If this is the case, Eveline may start to dislike Frank while living in Buenos Ayres and her unhappy life will start over again just as it was while living in