The Land and the sea
James Joyce one of Irelands greatest writers considered his characters as ways of the reader seeing the world from a different perspective. In The Proteus chapter in Ulysses and in Dubliners Joyce questions the land and the sea and represents Irish life in his work. The idea of the sea against the land as some sort of border can be seen through Joyce’s characters Evelyn in Dubliners and Stephen in Proteus.(Joyce, Ulysses) The paralysis of Irish life is contemplated in these and both texts show the feeling of the characters towards the sea. The potential for growth in this country of Ireland but also love and freedom is represented here in one way or another. The ideas that Joyce plays with here allows us to consider …show more content…
The feeling of anguish and terror that overwhelmed her in that particular moment when she comes to the dock and sees the sea; that which lies ahead of her. To her the sea was death, drowning, dark, full of terror and full of change that she may not have been ready for. She stays grounded to the land because of this idea of terror, the unknown and great change in my opinion. The disillusion of identity here confuses Evelyn and fears she will become lost at sea with her identity. In this moment at the north wall she seems passive, questioning her identity yet too fearful to make a decision to stay home or escape. The identity crisis here and the fear of the unknown endures that Evelyn does not have a decision the boat leaves with her love on it ; yet she remains paralysed at the north wall on the land not moving in any direction. Frozen in time. Her feelings here shine through in her reaction to the sea and to the boat fear overtakes her more than anything else and more than love it seems which should not be the case. The comfort in her unhappy life and home holds her there in Dublin and in another way Stephen in Proteus considers the sea but also like Evelyn in Dubliners never actually leaves the land; they both remain grounded secure on the hard …show more content…
Evelyn remains on land and all that Stephen thinks about considers mainly the land. The land seems even here to ne something more significant than the sea and something we need to hold on to so that we do not loose ourselves. The characters feel at home and secure in some ways and long for a change that they will not allow themselves to make. They remain where they know and they remain somewhere that is familiar and somewhere that they can try to understand. It seems to be in these texts that the sea is something that we may not know everything about because there are things beneath the surface that we cannot get to even today. The fear of the unknown in human beings is what stops us from moving off the shore and progressing towards the water and the
James Joyce one of Irelands greatest writers considered his characters as ways of the reader seeing the world from a different perspective. In The Proteus chapter in Ulysses and in Dubliners Joyce questions the land and the sea and represents Irish life in his work. The idea of the sea against the land as some sort of border can be seen through Joyce’s characters Evelyn in Dubliners and Stephen in Proteus.(Joyce, Ulysses) The paralysis of Irish life is contemplated in these and both texts show the feeling of the characters towards the sea. The potential for growth in this country of Ireland but also love and freedom is represented here in one way or another. The ideas that Joyce plays with here allows us to consider …show more content…
The feeling of anguish and terror that overwhelmed her in that particular moment when she comes to the dock and sees the sea; that which lies ahead of her. To her the sea was death, drowning, dark, full of terror and full of change that she may not have been ready for. She stays grounded to the land because of this idea of terror, the unknown and great change in my opinion. The disillusion of identity here confuses Evelyn and fears she will become lost at sea with her identity. In this moment at the north wall she seems passive, questioning her identity yet too fearful to make a decision to stay home or escape. The identity crisis here and the fear of the unknown endures that Evelyn does not have a decision the boat leaves with her love on it ; yet she remains paralysed at the north wall on the land not moving in any direction. Frozen in time. Her feelings here shine through in her reaction to the sea and to the boat fear overtakes her more than anything else and more than love it seems which should not be the case. The comfort in her unhappy life and home holds her there in Dublin and in another way Stephen in Proteus considers the sea but also like Evelyn in Dubliners never actually leaves the land; they both remain grounded secure on the hard …show more content…
Evelyn remains on land and all that Stephen thinks about considers mainly the land. The land seems even here to ne something more significant than the sea and something we need to hold on to so that we do not loose ourselves. The characters feel at home and secure in some ways and long for a change that they will not allow themselves to make. They remain where they know and they remain somewhere that is familiar and somewhere that they can try to understand. It seems to be in these texts that the sea is something that we may not know everything about because there are things beneath the surface that we cannot get to even today. The fear of the unknown in human beings is what stops us from moving off the shore and progressing towards the water and the