Saturday 2 February 2013

Six: 'Eveline' by James Joyce


~Eveline~
James Joyce
(1882-1941)
IRELAND
A giant of the twentieth-century literature and one of the most influential and original innovators in the modernist shaping of narrative form and language, James Joyce was born in a suburb of Dublin. His influence on twentieth-century literature is formidable and definitive; his experiments with language, subject, point of view, and formal structure established entirely new conventions and conceptions of literary expression. Each of Joyce's major works reflects his extension of the boundaries of traditional narrative forms. The fifteen stories in Dubliners (1914) begun in 1904 when Joyce was in his early twenties, already show his departure from tradition. One of his guiding strategies was the inclusion of what he termed “epiphanies”: brief but significant moments of insight, illumination or revelation for his characters. Joyce uses the stream-of-consciousness technique in his works.
In Eveline, from Dubliners, Joyce demonstrates his sympathetic understanding of ordinary young people who represent a cross-section of contemporary urban life in Dublin. At the same time, it is the nature of their inner moral lives that determines their perceptions of the world and the choices that follow from them.
The text of the story is available here:


NOTES
Meanings of Difficult Words:
  1. Cretonne: a heavy cotton fabric, typically with a floral pattern, used for upholstery.
  2. Keep nix: keep on guard.
  3. Palpitations: a rapid, strong or irregular heartbeat due to agitation or illness.
  4. Squabble: quarrel.
  5. Shillings: a former British coin and monetary unit equal to twelve pence or one twentieth of a pound.
  6. Squander: spend money wastefully.
  7. Provisions: supplies of food and drink.
  8. Elated: feeling very pleased.
  9. Patagonians: legends based on nomadic tribes that lived in the southern tip of Argentina (known as Patagonia); the stratas of Magellan- the channel between the South American mainland and Tierra del Fuego; Buenos Ayres- Buenos Aires, Argentina.
  10. Bonnet: a woman's hat tied under the chin and with a brim framing the face.
  11. Melancholy: deep and long-lasting sadness.
  12. Derevaun Seraun: an expression of uncertain translation, possibly corrupt Gaelic for “the end of pleasure is pain” [William Y. Tindall]
  13. Quay: a landing place where the boats are tied, a wharf.

Few Important Lines:
  1. Then a man from Belfast bought the field and built houses in it -- not like their little brown houses but bright brick houses with shining roofs.
  2. Then she would be married -- she, Eveline. People would treat her with respect then. She would not be treated as her mother had been.
  3. Strange that it should come that very night to remind her of the promise to her mother, her promise to keep the home together as long as she could.


Important Points:
Home is where the heart is.”
In this story, the time of day is somewhere in the middle. It is neither day nor night. This is reflected by Eveline's thoughts, which are hanging in between two contrasting decisions. “To be or not to be, that is the question.” - Hamlet. This is the main conflict of the story, that whether Eveline should stay with her family and live the drudgery and monotony of her life or go on an adventure with a sailor and explore new possibilities and a fresh start, away from the odour of dusty cretonne. She is in her thinking mode as her head is resting against the windowsill, there seems to be something wrong. The mood of the story is set. Eveline is gloomy, pensive and musing. Her thoughts too, are clouded with dust, she is confused, there is obscurity and lack of clarity, a lack of vision. The first three lines also give a hint of her social/ living condition.
Eveline is a young, nineteen or twenty year old girl, the only action in the story is of her sitting near the window. It is a typical Joyce technique of Flashback or Stream-of-consciousness. This originates from the dramatic monologue or soliloquy, a technique in which the character is thinking to himself.
Joyce was of the view that the people of Ireland could fight for their lives and bring a change, but their passive attitude and manner prevented them from doing so.
In the second paragraph Eveline has described her social condition, economic status and a little about her family. All these things are elaborated further in the next paragraph. The symbols and images used in the story are important.
James Joyce always gives a reference of religion in his stories. He was a Catholic, but he was not appreciated because he converted. During that time the religious people had left Ireland, such as the yellowing photograph of the Priest in the story. The symbol of this photograph is used to convey the feelings of Eveline when she looks at familiar objects in her house. She is sad to leave but she is also excited. She is looking at everything as if she wants to absorb it all, a sentimental feeling is governing her.
There is much detail about the place where she lives. It is a closely knit environment, everyone knows everyone. And everyone knows everything about everyone. People pick on each other when someone makes a mistake.
Eveline's relationship with her father is elaborated as unhealthy. He was close to beating her and he used to take her money. She felt uneasy in her home environment because of that. This is the main reason of leaving her father.
Eveline also talked about her lover Frank. It is almost an instinct for a woman to compare her first male figure, her father, with her lover. Eveline is doing the same. She is weighing the differences between the two men in her life. Frank was kind and open-hearted unlike her father. Frank gave her happiness and excitement. She was under the spell of his stories and his adventure, she sought a sort of liberation through his company. It was not really love, for her, it was infatuation. She was simply excited to be with him. He was an escape from her dull life. He was offering her a different view and a different reality of life. She remembered him, his talks and his behaviour, not how she felt about him or what her deep feelings were towards him.
Towards the end of the story Eveline remembers the good times with her family and her father.
Generally music signifies harmony, it is a communication without language. It can connect you to specific moments and memories without any aid from language. It symbolizes association. The music in the story is an inspiration from Italy, perhaps it is a reference to Europe's advances on Ireland, so Eveline's father's words (Damned Italians! Coming over here!) may contain dual meaning.
The phrase Derevaun Seraun is a paradox. It is ironic because if Eveline can think she can have a good life with Frank then she should remember that end of all pleasure is pain. Eveline is afraid she will die like her mother, working and giving sacrifices.
Eveline suffers the fear of the unknown. She remembered her mother's promise and realized that she was not in love with Frank. She finally realized the meaning of Derevaun Seraun. She was too afraid of going and what she was leaving behind. She was now afraid of going to an unfamiliar place with a man whom she did not love. The end of the story is where Eveline attains her moment of sudden realization, an epiphany. She realizes she cannot go with Frank.
Frank was offering her something new and exciting. He was the softer side of man. She was simply overtaken by these feelings but when she weighed the pros and cons of leaving her home she realized that if she left she would be labeled as a selfish person who has abandoned her family. It symbolizes that the people of Ireland are not ready for a change. Eveline, just like Ireland, is suspended in a life of indecision. Her feelings change in the end, and so the importance of things change.
The idea of sailors in the story is stereotypical. They do not have a permanent abode, they live like gypsies, moving from place to place. They symbolize the exotic places. People do not like or appreciate sailors because there is no permanent setting for them. They do not settle down in one place. Eveline, perhaps realized this towards the end and chose to stay.
Here are a few links for further analysis of the story:

Main Themes:
  • Paralysis
  • Guilt
  • Doubt
  • Indecisiveness
  • Emotional Attachment
  • Difficult life of a woman in patriarchal society

Questions:
  1. What is the conflict in the story?
  2. What attracts Eveline to Frank? Why does she decide not to go with him?
  3. What attitudes towards her parents and family do you discover through Eveline's thoughts? How do those attitudes influence her decision to remain in Ireland?
  4. What does the symbolism of the 'window' represent?
Credit-Muneeza Rafiq

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