James Joyce

22 February 2016
Paralysis in Eveline and The Dead

A recurring theme through the entirety of Dubliners is the feeling of paralysis that the
characters in the stories feel. All the Dubliners seem to be spiritually weak, fearful people,
slaves to their political, religious, moral, physical and love life. Once we have read all the
stories in Dubliners, we see that the idea of paralysis is a common theme. In his collection of
short stories, Joyce tried to portray this feeling of paralysis in Dublin and Ireland as a whole.
In one of his letters, he expresses the purpose of Dubliners My intention was to write a
chapter of the moral history of my country and I chose Dublin for the scene because that city
seemed to me the centre of paralysis. (Joyce, letter to Grant Richards, 5 May 1906).
The question that arises is what were Joyce's reasons for thinking Dubliners were suffering
from paralysis. In order to understand this, we have to look at the situation in Ireland at the
time. Ireland was under the British rule, they were oppressed and they had no independence.
Joyce was writing Dubliners during the Irish Literary Revival, lead by W. B. Yeats and Lady
Gregory. Irish literary renaissance was closely allied with a strong political nationalism and a
revival of interest in Irelands Gaelic literary heritage. It was started as a means to prove that
Ireland could be a country completely independent of England. i The British had control of the
Irish who couldn't break free, and this is the reason Joyce wrote about the paralyzed state they
were left in. His characters are paralyzed physically, emotionally, sexually, socially... They are
unable to move forward, even though they wish to, so instead, they remain idle and trapped.
One thing I also found while researching is that Joyce used the term paralysis to denote a

condition of spiritual torpor caused by what he perceived to be the oppressive religiosity of

Catholic culture in Ireland. ii
I think it is safe to say that Joyce wanted to help his characters by pointing out their bad sides,
by allowing them to have a look at themselves through his works, and by allowing them a
moment of realization which helps these characters face their paralysis. He believed he could
liberate his country and prevent the feeling of paralysis that was spreading everywhere, and so
he says In composing my chapter of moral history in exactly the way I have composed it, I
have taken the first step towards spiritual liberation of my country... I seriously believe that
you will retard the course of civilisation in Ireland by preventing the Irish people from having
one good look at themselves in my nicely polished looking-glass.
I would also like to mention how this sense of immobility causes in characters a desire to
escape their dull everyday lives, their unfullfilling relationships, their country. They long for
the East, for the exciting and new, in order to lead a happier life. Although they are given the
opportunity to break away from their state of paralysis, unfortunately, none of the characters
actually succeed, they are unable to reach epiphany so they continue living their paralyzed
lives. In this essay I will introduce the theme of paralysis in the short stories Eveline and
The Dead. I chose Eveline because this is the story whose protagonist is a good example
of not being able to break the chains that bind her and leave in order to find a new life, and
The Dead because the protagonist, Gabriel, even though he openly states that he hates his
country and is sick of it, rather decides to stay there, idle and numb.
Eveline seems to me one of the best stories that presents us with a character whose mind is
paralyzed. Eveline is a 19 year old girl who spends most her time looking through the window
and reminiscing about the past, when she played with other children. She thinks of her late
mother, of her abusive father with whom she lives. Eveline is facing a dilemma, whether to

leave with her lover, Frank, for Buenos Aires to embark on a new life, or stay at home and
take care of the family and household because of a promise she made to her late mother. All
throughout the story, Eveline is fighting this idea whether to go with Frank or stay at home.
"She had consented to go away, to leave her home. Was that wise? She tried to weigh each
side of the question. In her home anyway she had shelter and food; she had those whom she
had known all her life about her. (...) But in her new home, in a distant unknown country, it
would not be like that. Then she would be married she, Eveline. People would treat her
with respect then. She would not be treated as her mother had been."
Evelines story is the first portrait of a female in Dubliners and it shows struggles that many
women had in early twentieth-century Dublin whether to remain trapped in a domestic life,
rooted in the past, or to open themselves up to the possibility of a new life abroad.
Our protagonist also appears to be paralyzed, stuck in a static position, either sitting in a chair
or standing but not moving, not physically, nor metaphorically, because of her inability to
reach a decision. To support this, I will provide a few examples from the text itself. "She sat
at the window watching the evening invade the avenue." The day goes by, and Eveline
remains in the same position. "Her time was running out but she continued to sit by the
window, leaning her head against the window curtain, inhaling the odour of dusty cretonne." I
would also like to point out dust as an important reappearing symbol of paralysis all
throughout the story. "Home! She looked round the room, reviewing all its familiar objects
which she had dusted once a week for so many years, wondering where on earth all the dust
came from." (...) "inhaling the odour of dusty cretonne".
Eveline eventually makes a decision, choosing a new life abroad, in Buenos Aires, with her
lover, over the dull life of a housewife. She realizes how much happiness this will bring her,
she would be married, people would treat her with respect, and she would not end up like her

dead mother has. She finally leaves and meets Frank at the station. However, she does not
leave with Frank for Buenos Aires, her paralysis not letting her move further. "She stood
among the swaying crowd in the station at the North Wall. He held her hand and she knew
that he was speaking to her, saying something about the passage over and over again."
Eveline is the only character in Dubliners who is given a chance to leave, to escape the
dullness of her life, but she lets that chance slip through fingers. Maybe it was the feeling of
fear and guilt that overwhelmed her, maybe she was having second thoughts about Frank who
might not have been as honest as she thought, but whatever the reason, when she gets close to
escaping, she remains paralysed. "She answered nothing. She felt her cheek pale and cold
and, out of a maze of distress, she prayed to God to direct her, to show her what was her duty.
(...) No! No! No! It was impossible. Her hands clutched the iron in frenzy. Amid the seas she
sent a cry of anguish." Eveline seeks guidance from God, she prays for him to show her light,
to direct her but she gets no answer.
This is one of the things Joyce criticized in his works, this inability of the Catholic Church to
offer help and guidance. Eveline praying also serves to prove how she still hasn't made a
decision, even though she came close to embarking on a journey with Frank. The last two
sentences of the story give a perfect round-up of her character, as well as all other characters
in Dubliners. "She set her white face to him, passive, like a helpless animal. Her eyes gave
him no sign of love or farewell or recognition." She was facing the biggest decision of her life
and she could have acted on it, but she did not. Her paralysis left her like a helpless animal,
strapped of all feelings, emotions... The story does not end with Eveline going back home,
instead we are left with the feeling that she will forever be stuck in routine, with no means to
escape.
The second story I will focus on is The Dead. It deals with the story of Gabriel
Conroy, the only character in Dubliners to voice his unhappiness with the life in Ireland.
4

While reading the story, I could not help but feel that Gabriel was in fact paralyzed by his own
self-consciousness. He is Joyce's most intellectual character, he's very educated and he does
not really know how to converse with people who are different from him. Gabriel thinks that
his superior education and the fact he writes articles for newspapers are a good enough reason
to look down on people, and from this stems the reason of his paralysis. Not only that, but our
protagonist's marriage also appears to be paralyzed. His relationship with Gretta revolves
around his intense desire to have control of her and her feelings. This culminates at the party
when he sees her transfixed by music and she admits that she was thinking about her first
love, Michael Furey. This is when Gabriel has an epiphany he realizes he is just a shadow of
a person who has never experienced love in its full intensity. "It hardly pained him now to
think how poor a part he, her husband, had played in her life. (...) Generous tears filled
Gabriels eyes. He had never felt like that himself towards any woman (...) His soul had
approached that region where dwell the vast hosts of the dead.. His own identity was fading
out into a grey impalpable world: the solid world itself, which these dead had one time reared
and lived in, was dissolving and dwindling."
For someone like Gabriel Conroy, who is sick of his own country "O, to tell you the truth,"
retorted Gabriel suddenly, "Im sick of my own country, sick of it!" it would be rather logical
to leave the country, to embark on a journey eastward and seek happiness there, instead of
living in the past and remaining still at the same place that makes him unhappy.
The story ends with Gabriel curled up on the bed, contemplating his mortality while looking
out of the window only to see the snow falling everywhere, covering all of Ireland. The snow
is a general symbol of paralysis in the story. "Yes, the newspapers were right: snow was
general all over Ireland. It was falling on every part of the dark central plain, on the treeless
hills, falling softly upon the Bog of Allen and, farther westward, softly falling into the dark
mutinous Shannon waves. () His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly
5

through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living
and the dead."
This blanket of snow suggests general paralysis, so not only Gabriels, but everyone elses
too. It seems that everyone in Ireland is as numb as he is. And this is what Joyce was trying to
achieve, to show us Dubliners as the living dead, as people who are living, but not to their full
potentials. This is why he wanted Irish people to have a look in his nicely polished lookingglass, to achieve spiritual liberation and break free.
To conclude, I believe that Joyce achieved his aim of showing us Dubliners and Irish
society as paralyzed to a great extent. All of his characters seem to have wanted to change
their lives and move forward, but when given the chance, they decided not to. Whether they
were too scared of change, or they simply decided to live as they have before they are stuck
in the vicious circle of routine and habits. Throughout the collection of short stories, we see
frustration after frustration, the characters are unable to get a good look at themselves in
Joyce's nicely polished looking-glass. However, in The Dead, Gabriel realizes the truth, he
realizes that he needs to change, and this is what Joyce wants for all the Ireland. He wants the
Irish to have an epiphany, because he strongly believed they had the potential to break free.

WORKS CITED
Books:
1. Barber, B.R., Gargas McGrath M.J. The Artist and Political Vision. New Brunswick:
Transaction Books, 1983

Web sources:
2. https://irishmediaman.wordpress.com/2012/03/28/paralysis-in-jamesjoyces-dubliners-book-review/

3. http://hilo.hawaii.edu/academics/hohonu/documents/Vol05x17ParalysisandEpiphany.p
df
4. http://www.ukessays.com/essays/english-literature/paralysis-in-joyces-dublinersenglish-literature-essay.php
5. http://www.britannica.com/event/Irish-literary-renaissance
6. https://irishmediaman.wordpress.com/2012/03/28/paralysis-in-jamesjoyces-dubliners-book-review/

i http://www.britannica.com/event/Irish-literary-renaissance

ii https://irishmediaman.wordpress.com/2012/03/28/paralysis-in-james-joycesdubliners-book-review/