Dubliners by james joyce
2075 mots
9 pages
Claudia Natoli Tle OIB1Essay
To what extent are the short stories in Dubliners a criticism of Ireland?
James Joyce was born in the south of Dublin and had seen both sides of Ireland; he was a real Dubliner. Joyce he was part of the catholic middle-class. He wrote Dubliners in 1914. During this period there was a conflict between English and Irish as English colonized Ireland. Indeed, in The Two Gallants the English ancestry towards Irish is revealed by the places’ names such as ‘Kildare St Club’ which was named after the British colonization. Also, in The Sisters Father Flynn dies on the first of July which corresponds to the Battle of Boyne when the Catholic Ireland defeated. The choice of this specific date is not a coincidence; it has been chosen to criticize Ireland, actually to say that it is a sort of ‘dead country’. Also, in Counterparts, Farrington’s job (to copy legal articles) shows a lack of inventiveness, but within the story antagonism between two paralysed worlds (Ireland and a more energetic outside world), we can see an inter dependence at the encounter with the London Girl. Another strong symbol of the criticism of Ireland is the Girl in the Two Gallants; she represents the depraved conditions under colonial rules
One of the other ways with which Ireland is criticised is the use of the colours. Indeed, in Araby the darkness of the winter symbolizes the death, the stagnation and the sterility of the country: the season is a season of ‘lack of light’ with adjectives such as ‘sombre’, ‘feeble street lights’, and ‘dark odorous stables’ which gives to the reader an impression of dirtiness. In Ivy Day in the Committee Room, the green eyes of the old Josser represents Ireland called ‘the Emerald isle’ in opposition to the canvasser’s blue eyes. Ireland is also criticized with the omnipresence of brown colour as when the houses are described in The Boarding House; and also with suggested colours as the