Dubliners is a novel conceived of multiple stories James Joyce writes describing different aspect of people’s lives within the city of Dublin. In this novel, he uses characters with peculiar circumstances such as the relationship between a priest and a young boy to give the readers a sense of doubt between the characters of all the stories. However, Joyce changes the theme between two or three stories. Within “The Sisters” and “An Encounter,” the stories have young boys as the main protagonist that has a relationship with an older man whether it is a mentor or strangers chatting. However, both of these stories showcase unpleasant and illicit relationships between an older man and young boys. “The Sisters” expresses the idea of pedophilia between
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From the stories “The Sisters” and “An Encounter” within Joyce’s novel Dubliners, the readers learn the impression Father Flynn and the old man had upon their narrators. The impression is repugnance and betrayal. The narrator in “The Sisters” had a mentor-student relationship with the priest; however, the narrator realizes Father Flynn’s illicit intentions. The old man in “An Encounter” similarly showed his intentions to the narrator, but his intentions were fully expressed by his perversion from talking about girls in front of the boys and speaking of whipping the narrator’s friend. The old man differs from Father Flynn because the old man was very direct and opens up about his true intentions whereas Father Flynn was never open about it at all. Father Flynn was only accused of having an illicit relationship with the narrator of “The Sisters.” However, James Joyce motioned this story towards Father Flynn being a pedophile by having the narrator has his realization of his attentions from remembering his laughter from mental instability and the priest’s moist lips. Father Flynn and the old man have the similarity of illicit desires but both differ from their representation of that desire, Father Flynn being quiet about it and the old man being completely open with
From the stories “The Sisters” and “An Encounter” within Joyce’s novel Dubliners, the readers learn the impression Father Flynn and the old man had upon their narrators. The impression is repugnance and betrayal. The narrator in “The Sisters” had a mentor-student relationship with the priest; however, the narrator realizes Father Flynn’s illicit intentions. The old man in “An Encounter” similarly showed his intentions to the narrator, but his intentions were fully expressed by his perversion from talking about girls in front of the boys and speaking of whipping the narrator’s friend. The old man differs from Father Flynn because the old man was very direct and opens up about his true intentions whereas Father Flynn was never open about it at all. Father Flynn was only accused of having an illicit relationship with the narrator of “The Sisters.” However, James Joyce motioned this story towards Father Flynn being a pedophile by having the narrator has his realization of his attentions from remembering his laughter from mental instability and the priest’s moist lips. Father Flynn and the old man have the similarity of illicit desires but both differ from their representation of that desire, Father Flynn being quiet about it and the old man being completely open with