In the short story, “Eveline,” authored by James Joyce in 1914, Eveline accepts the role as the main character who originated from a poverty stricken family. “Eveline” evolves from Joyce’s collection of short stories titled “Dubliners” which descriptively represent life in Dublin, Ireland. The main character struggles to make a traumatic decision in her life as she must decide between continuing her accustomed life with her abusive father or traveling to another country with her boyfriend, Frank. However, Eveline appears numb when it comes to making any sort of change in her life, no matter the size. “Eveline” elucidates Joyce’s common theme of paralysis as Eveline’s explicit characteristics interrupt her fight for freedom and leaves her cemented
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Eveline realizes that “she had nobody to protect her” after her mother and brother passed away (Joyce). Instead, Eveline remained under control of her abusive father who only contributed to her somber mood as he regularly created a dispute over why she should turn over her wages to him. After deeply considering running away and eloping with Frank, Eveline anticipates “people would treat her with respect” in a country that does not compare to the one in which she lives now (Joyce). However, the physical setting of the story left Eveline feeling paralyzed as “her time was running out” to make a decision on whether she would stay with her abusive father or travel to Buenos Ayres with Frank. As Joyce mentions, “The evening deepened into the avenue,” Eveline’s character also progresses further as she lets the same darkness that sets upon the avenue glaze over herself as she continues to sit at the window and allow the darkness to further stimulate her feelings of melancholy. Walzl explains, “Eveline is trapped by society, past and present, in a promise to a dying irrational mother and the unreasonable opposition of her father” (Walzl 224-225), suggesting that the only reason why she still anchors herself to her home in Ireland happens to be because she promised her mother that she would always “keep the home together as long as she could”
Eveline realizes that “she had nobody to protect her” after her mother and brother passed away (Joyce). Instead, Eveline remained under control of her abusive father who only contributed to her somber mood as he regularly created a dispute over why she should turn over her wages to him. After deeply considering running away and eloping with Frank, Eveline anticipates “people would treat her with respect” in a country that does not compare to the one in which she lives now (Joyce). However, the physical setting of the story left Eveline feeling paralyzed as “her time was running out” to make a decision on whether she would stay with her abusive father or travel to Buenos Ayres with Frank. As Joyce mentions, “The evening deepened into the avenue,” Eveline’s character also progresses further as she lets the same darkness that sets upon the avenue glaze over herself as she continues to sit at the window and allow the darkness to further stimulate her feelings of melancholy. Walzl explains, “Eveline is trapped by society, past and present, in a promise to a dying irrational mother and the unreasonable opposition of her father” (Walzl 224-225), suggesting that the only reason why she still anchors herself to her home in Ireland happens to be because she promised her mother that she would always “keep the home together as long as she could”