James Joyce's Dubliners is a collection of short stories that aim to describe Ireland, its people and its problems. With the use of three short stories written by Joyce "Araby", "Eveline" and "After the Race", and the help of five secondary sources from Blake G. Hobby "Alienation in James Joyce's Dubliners", Neil Murphy "James Joyce's Dubliners and Modernist Doubt: The Making of a Tradition,” Patrick Parrinder “Dubliners,” Susan V. Scaff “The Work of James Joyce,” and William York Tindall “The Theme of Escape”; we will see the similarities between these three short stories. Even though the characters have a balanced life, a job, a family and friends, they want to escape their situation and the authorities who pressure them like the Church and the family. However, when they finally have the chance to escape, they find themselves paralyzed and disappointed by reality. Thus, Joyce shows that the characters are influenced by the socio-political context of Ireland at that time. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Religion is a common theme in all three of these stories. In fact, the Church is represented through different elements and it influences the behavior of the characters. As Susan V. Scaff reports, “the Catholic Church left its mark on the Irishman, its rigid morals producing in him an instinct to flee.” In "Araby", the narrator is surrounded by religion because he lives in a house whose former tenant was a priest, he died and left his religious possessions. Joyce describes the house as an old and dirty place, which expresses a rebellion against the Catholic heritage. The boy goes to a Roman Catholic school and everyone around him is Catholic. Patrick Parrinder also states that "anti-clericalism is found in a much older story of the Dubliners, 'Eveline'" because she prays to God and asks for guidance in her decision-making. However, religion is represented by guilt, sacrifice and promises. She made sacrifices in caring for her family, her duties and "she worked hard to keep the house together and to ensure that the two young children, who had been entrusted to her care, attended school regularly" (Joyce 603). Furthermore, she feels obligated to keep the promises she made to her mother on her deathbed and to God, namely, "to keep the house together as long as she can" (Joyce 604). Joyce criticizes religion since Eveline's guilt pushes her to stay in Dublin. Additionally, Jimmy Doyle was educated at a "major Catholic college" and studied at the University of Dublin, which was associated with the English Protestant ruling elite at that time due to the British occupation. Susan V. Scaff reports that some "doubts about the authority of the priests are modeled" in all three stories. Indeed, Joyce denigrates the Catholic Church in his writings because he considers that religion delays the development of Ireland. For him, the Church plays a huge role in the lives of the Irish and, as it influences their decision, they end up making mistakes that plunge them into an endless cycle of sadness and negative feelings. This is why Patrick Parrinder says: "the Church, in Joyce's eyes, represents a more human and subtle system of repression." The Catholic Church takes advantage of people by making them believe in great accomplishments and a better life, when the opposite is true for the characters. They eventually realize that this was a false idealization. The three short stories take place in a dark environment where death is present in people's lives and in Ireland because the country was occupiedby England. Thus, Joyce symbolizes a state of inaction, as if the country is dying and people's lives have stopped. In “Araby”, the death of the priest underlines the morbid description of the house. The description emphasizes the presence of death, darkness and stench. At the end, the narrator says, “Looking into the darkness…I saw myself as a creature driven and ridiculed by vanity, and my eyes burned with anguish and anger” (Joyce 366). This gives a presentiment of death and no future for the young boy. Eveline was left behind, either by people dying or by people leaving. Her brothers left her and her mother is like a ghost, she still haunts her with the promise she made to her. Even though the characters have family and friends, they are isolated. The boy in “Araby” daydreams because of unrequited love; Eveline is far from her lover Frank who is in Argentina, and Jimmy Doyle finds himself alone, “his head in his hands, counting the beating of his temples” (Joyce 38). The characters seem solitary, in a morbid and heavy atmosphere. Life in Dublin, according to Joyce, is death. The Irish were not living fully and darkness was upon them. The religious references also suggest that religion makes Dubliners believe that their unwanted lives will end and a better one will begin. For example, Eveline “wanted to live…she had the right to happiness” (Joyce 604), as if a new life was about to begin. According to Susan V. Scaff, “Joyce makes the Christian belief in death and resurrection the fundamental motif.” Thus, death is not a sensitive subject for Joyce because even if the characters are unhappy in their current lives, they always have the possibility of reincarnating. According to William York Tindall, an escape can have three different aspects. This can be negative if the goal is to get out of an intolerable situation. This can be positive if the goal is to regain freedom and create a new life. The third reason to escape is a romantic goal. In the three Dubliners stories, the characters want to escape because they become aware of their unwanted lives. In “Araby,” the boy questions the expectations placed on him by family, nation, and religion because he believes that messing around is the solution to finding happiness and love. His escape opportunities are the love for Mangan's sister and the trip to the bazaar. Eveline aims to escape her home in Dublin, which reminds her of her childhood, her abusive father and her deceased mother. Unlike the boy in “Araby”, she has a concrete plan to go to Argentina, “she must escape, Frank would save her, he would give her life, perhaps also love” (Joyce 604). In “After the Race,” Jimmy Doyle tries to escape his responsibilities as a student and a man. Jimmy's father pays for his education and does not encourage his son to work. Jimmy therefore depends financially on his father. Symbolically, the characters want to escape the influence that Ireland and religion have over them. They want a better life where they will be safe and where they will find freedom and love. Blake G. Hobby states that “rituals with awkward silences and musical parodies among Dubliners draw attention to the alienation of the city dwellers, emphasizing their need to escape. ". In “Araby,” the music of British coins reminds us that Ireland was occupied by England; “Eveline” contains many allusions to the heart and heartbeat, as if she longs to stay in Ireland; and in "After the Race", the music playing during dinner distracts Jimmy Doyle from the reality of his life in Dublin. According to Susan V. Scaff, Joyce wonders how characters can "resurrect andrenew, whether in their family or religious life or in the great theater of history.” The characters embody the Irish people who do not want to stay in their “home”. They want to find security and attachment in adulthood to let their power flourish. Susan V. Scaff states that "Joyce develops the theme of paralysis from the Dubliners, describing scenes of fear, reluctance, immobility, and passive retreat into the safety of their homes. and family.” In fact, hope or contentment very quickly gives way to despair, vanity, anxiety, anger and shame. Each character is paralyzed and struggles to make good decisions. In these stories, few of their futures look bright because the characters are locked in disenchantment as if they could never be happy. According to Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud in "Alienation in James Joyce's Dubliners", a disillusioned person is "isolated, filled with inner conflicts and anxiety, repressed by institutions and cultural values, and acting in angry rebellion against order established and accepted forms. ". In "Araby", when the boy arrives at the market, he is disappointed by the reality of what he finds "china vases and flowered tea sets", as well as people speaking with English accents (Joyce 365) . Once again, Joyce reminds us of the occupation of Ireland at this time. Blake G. Hobby states that "he emphasizes his own suffering, fictionally creating himself 'as a creature driven and ridiculed by vanity,' whose own suffering and disillusionment are great." The young boy realizes that the bazaar is not as exotic an escape as he hoped. He is still in his own usual world, and his love for Mangan's sister is also a false escape, a vanity, a mistaken belief in his own peculiarity. For Neil Murphy, “Araby concludes with resounding ambiguity…mystery, uncertain meaning and uncertainty.” Eveline plans to flee Ireland with her lover towards a better life, but at the last moment, she finds escape "impossible", she freezes, and turns "towards him her white face, passive like a defenseless animal" (Joyce 604). By remaining in Ireland, Eveline remains unhappy and self-destructs. Neil Murphy notes that “the heroine crosses several temporal zones, despite her spatial immobility”. In fact, Joyce describes Eveline's childhood when she lived with her brothers and parents, he recounts the first time Eveline met Frank, as well as her later life in Argentina. Even though Eveline is physically in Ireland, Joyce talks to us about her memories, her personal reflections and the environment. She can't move in with Frank because she's scared, she's mentally trapped, and she doesn't have the courage to leave Ireland. She prefers to stay in a life that is familiar to her, even if she is not fully happy. For Neil Murphy, Joyce's characters "suffer from paralysis of will, energy and imagination...the narrative is centered on the mind and inner experiences." Jimmy Doyle is paralyzed during a moment of revelation in which he recognizes the truth of his situation, but he does nothing to change it as he continues to be an unproductive citizen, having fun with his friends and spending money of his father. After losing disastrously at cards, Jimmy lowers his head into his hands and finds himself sitting alone and terribly in debt. Patrick Parrinder says that "man's obsession is a form of mental and emotional paralysis" because he will do it again and later regret it. Jimmy's success is hindered by his father's support and he realizes that he has accomplished nothing. Jimmy's father wants the best for his son, but he's not doing him any favors by payingall his bills, by not pushing him to finish his studies and just wanting him to make friends in high places and show people he has money. In “Alienation in James Joyce Dubliners,” Joyce creates “a coherent portrait of townspeople following vain desires” because the characters are unable to escape their unpleasant situations. The characters are paralyzed because Ireland was paralyzed when Britain occupied the country. According to Patrick Parrinder, "Joyce demonstrated the same reductive impulse in choosing a medical term, paralysis, to summarize the spiritual condition of Dublin." The paralysis is a metaphor for Dublin's doomed and doomed life. In fact, there was no progress in Ireland and people had neither the courage nor the energy to leave their country. For Parrider, "Joyce's portrait of family life in Dublin is uncomfortably sociologically accurate" because it reflects Ireland's position in the early 20th century as one of the poorest countries in the world. civilized world, with a population decimated by the Great Famine and massive emigration. In all three stories, Joyce's characters are surrounded by family, but still feel isolated and unhappy. The article "The Work of James Joyce" states that "Joyce allows himself the latitude to explore the potential for heroism, love, and devoted family life in the modern world" (Susan V. Scaff 2) . The reader realizes that when we make decisions, we are influenced by our family and friends. In "Araby", the narrator grew up in an Irish Catholic society in Dublin, he became estranged from his friends and family, which caused loneliness and despair. He lives with his uncle and aunt rather than his biological parents. Separation is a common characteristic of the modernists and of Joyce's own tendency to have children living with someone other than their parents, a symbol of the isolation of the child among Dubliners. Furthermore, the peak of frustration comes from his uncle when he arrived home late, thus delaying the only chance to go to Arabia. Eveline's choice whether or not to leave with Frank is not hers but is rather determined by her family. Her father stops her from doing what she wants and never allows her to make choices. He is a very abusive and excessive drinker, which makes her "sometimes feel threatened by her father's violence" (Joyce 602). Thus, Eveline is immobilized in part by the fear of her father who always threatens her. Jimmy's father is the reason he will never succeed in life on his own. He encourages his son to surround himself with friends and spend money. According to “Alienation in James Joyce Dubliners,” Jimmy is “part of cruel games that leave individuals alone, isolated, and at odds with themselves and the world” (Blake G. Hobby 2). So, Jimmy has no money value, he has never accomplished himself and never succeeded. As “The Work of James Joyce” reports, “family relationships bring tension and misery to the characters” (Susan V. Scaff 6). Joyce's characters need to escape because they do not thrive and thrive within their families. For Blake G. Hobby, "the paralysis reflects the alienation of Joyce's characters", they therefore feel isolated and powerless. As they fail to escape, the reader may think that they will never be fully happy in the future. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Finally, "Araby", "Eveline", and "After the Race" have similarities because Joyce shows the same consequences on the characters' behaviors, due to the socio-political context and religion in Ireland. The author expresses his opinion.. 2019.