Dubliners By James Joyce

By Jeffrey Aikens

|Analysis| Illustration| Bibliography|

 

Analysis

“Mrs. Mooney glanced instinctively at the little gilt clock on the mantelpiece as soon as she had become aware through her reverie that bells of George's Church had stopped ringing. It was seventeen minutes past eleven : she would have lots of time to have the matter out with Mr. Doran and then catch short twelve at Marlborough Street . She was sure she would win. To begin with, she had all the weight of social opinion on her side: she was an outraged mother. She had allowed him to live beneath her roof, assuming that he was a man of honour , and he had simply abused her hospitality. He was thirty-four or thirty-five years of age, so that youth could not be pleaded as his excuse ; nor could ignorance be his excuse, since he was a man who had seen something of the world . He had simply taken advantage of Polly's youth and inexperience : that was evident . The question was: What reparation would he make? ” (Boarding House pg 117)

 

Mrs. Mooney had a bone to pick with Mr. Doran for taking advantage of her daughter. She felt very confident in her case against Mr. Doran. She even went through her evidence that could prove her argument and why her solution would be just. Mrs. Mooney just needed to figure out what the solution was. Lines like “He was thirty-four or thirty-five years of age, so that youth could not be pleaded as his excuse; nor could ignorance be his excuse, since he was a man who had seen something of the world.” This tells me that she is very earnest with her daily affairs. From the way she conducts her self I think the presence of a lawyer is evident in her character.

 

As I read her statements more carefully I've come to the conclusion that she planed to put Mr. Doran in this awkward position. So she had her attack ready at a moments notice and would make Mr. Doran give in to her offer. I think this way of analyzing a character is more creative then doing it through the ordinary third person. This way challenges you to think and be more decisive through your critical lens. For example a passage like this, “She made Mary collect the crusts and pieces of broken bread t help make Tuesday's bread-pudding. When the table was cleared, the broken bread collected, the sugar and butter safe under lock and key , she began to reconstruct the interview which she had had the night before with Polly.” From Mrs. Mooney's speech (words in bold) tells me that every little detail mattered to her, “the broken bread collected, the sugar and butter safe under lock and key” something as simple as this speaks volumes about her character. Mrs. Mooney was a strigent and a smart business person. She was very analytical and used that to her advantage to critic her behavior and the people around her. Even the author mentions Mrs. Mooney reconstructing a conversation she had with her daughter a night before in her head. Mrs. Mooney was just a type of person who was set in her ways and played it safe and put a lot of hard work into everything she did.

 

Free indirect discourse gives you the opportunity to use your knowledge and opinion to choose statements that are not of direct speech that may be said by a particular character. I'm not a big fan of free indirect discourse because you have to make an educated guess. Then you can't be 100% sure because there is no definite answer and it can be open into interpretation so that's why I'm not very fond of this.

The character being portrayed in the image of Christ's divinity is Mrs. Mooney and the Magi are the people around her like her daughter, son and the people in the boarding house. The author is Joyce's transition from action (manifestation) to thought (Epiphany) which is the gate way for the reader to understand the characters in the story. The reader is the artist who searching for clues in the story to interpret the character but not look on the larger scale (gods) but more in detail like little words and phrases (men). In the image of the manifestation of Christ's body and blood in the Mass the character is being portrayed through a spiritual form like a ghost and the author is the person who creates the transition from thought or spiritual form to actual person and the reader is the can learn from that technique and maybe gain something from it.

 

The way these two images relate is through thought and action like a revelation to a manifestation. Joyce uses a technique that transforms an action or a person into a thought or a moment. “Polly knew that she was being watched, but still her mother's persistent silence could not be misunderstood. There had been no open complicity between mother and daughter, no open understanding, but though people in the house began to talk of the affair…” (Boarding House pg 68) This passage refers to the relationship between Polly and Mrs. Mooney and there behavior around one another. But Joyce takes the phrase “no open understanding” to describe how Polly feels about her mother. He used this moment in time to voice Polly's opinion as to say there is no open understanding between Mrs. Mooney and I because we don't talk so I can't really say I know my mother, she is stranger to me. This is what connects the two images.

 

I think Joyce has a wonderful technique of making you see his writing so vividly in your mind. Using a phrase such as, “the tip of her nose nearly met the tip of her chin.” (Clay pg 112) can give you a comical impression of how much she enjoyed life or the people around her and may even give you insight to the type of person Maria was. Joyce's imagery has gazed through the minds of readers all over the world there is no doubt his creativity is nothing of amazing.

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Illustration

Bibliography

http://www.themodernword.com/joyce/jj.manray.green.jpg

http://www.lexi-tv.de/pix/Begriffstextbild/1128_603_Haupt.jpg

http://www.popenterprises.co.uk/shop/battle/images/boots/board.jpg

http://www.darkshades.net/race%20car.jpg

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