Eveline by James Joyce is a short story set in Dublin, Ireland in 1914. The short story was published with Joyce's other short stories in a book called Dubliners. The main character of the story is the main character, Eveline. Eveline is a young girl of around nineteen who still lives in the house she grew up in, with a physically abusive father. Eveline's mother died of an illness while Eveline was still young. When Eveline is older, she meets a young man named Frank and they begin to like each other and begin to fall in love. Frank asks her to marry him and move with him to Beunos Ayres, Argentina, before they can start their lives. Eveline changes her mind and decides to stay in Dublin with her father. Eveline's theme is that her sense of duty is the main factor behind her decision to stay with her father. When Eveline's mother is on her deathbed, she asks Eveline to promise her something that creates a sense of duty that Eveline can never escape. Eveline's promise to her mother on her deathbed creates in her a sense of duty that will not let her leave with Frank. As Eveline prepares to leave her house and her father, she remembers the promise made to her mother: "It's strange that it comes that evening to remind her of the promise made to her mother, her promise to keep the house together as long as she can. » (Para. 14). This promise is the main contributing factor to the sense of duty that keeps Eveline from leaving her home and her father. There is power in a promise made to a person on their deathbed. This power is increased when the person is your mother. These two factors add up to create this sense of duty that will not let Eveline go. The sense of duty comes ...... middle of paper ......ing from an obligation towards her father which obliges her to stay with him. From the beginning of Eveline's story he is very obvious that she is governed by her sense of duty to her home and to her father, it is only in the final sentence that we see the true control she has over his life. Eveline's sense of duty is the driving force that pushes her to stay with her father. This is clearly demonstrated to us by the promise she made to her mother on her deathbed. Then this increases due to the fact that Eveline knows no other life than this. Ultimately, Eveline's dedication to her family and to God combined to create a sense of duty. At the end of this story we see a young woman who is lucky enough to have a life full of happiness, joy and love, but because of a false sense of duty towards a cruel father, she turns him back and accept a life full of pain, hard work and heartache.