The Process of Thinking of the Characters in Dubliners

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Professor
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25 December 2016
The Process of Thinking of the Characters
Introduction
The book Dubliners by James Royce is a series of short stories that describe life in the early twentieth century Dublin Ireland. Each story is unique in the fact that all the characters live in and around the capital. The underlying theme is how each character interacts with other characters in the each story with respect to religion, class and represents some basic values about life on the streets and missed opportunities. Each character feels some loneliness and regrets about love and lost opportunities. “The stories collectively present a direct, sometimes searing view of the city of Dublin in the twentieth century,” (Hall, 1). This statement is true. These next paragraphs will depict what is in the minds of each short story that addresses the feelings and views of the protagonists.
THE SISTERS
The character in this story is about a young boy experiencing the death of someone he knows for the first time. Father Flynn is deteriorating in health due to a series of strokes (Joyce, 1). He thinks no movement equals death. The boy listens to the adults discuss the priest and is confused about why Old Cotter thinks of the priest as “odd” because of the friendship with the boy. He has dreams about it that he feels that the friendship was abnormal.
AN ENCOUNTER
The story is about two boys’ day out while playing hooky from school (Joyce, 1). When a strange man starts up a conversation, the boys are creeped-out when the man talks about sweethearts the progress to whipping boys like them.

Mahoney and the narrator’s inner sense of danger kick in. They feel fear and need to get away from the man, because of the odd topic. They do not know why, only that it feels wrong.
ARABY
An unrequited love story about a friend’s sister, this is a boy’s first crush (Joyce, 1). It is all he thinks about day and night. The girl is forever on his mind when he feels love for the first time. He is angry when his uncle is late. He is disappointed and feels sad over not buying his love a gift.
EVELINE
A girl hates taking care of her father but feels guilty because of the promise she gave her dying mother. She feels indecisiveness about running off with a man for love and happiness, or a life of boring sameness staying home (Joyce, 1). She agonizes over escaping or keeping the promise. Overwhelmed by guilt, she prays for direction. She feels dejected but keeps the promise.
AFTER THE RACE
Jimmy is the protagonist who blows money he really does not have to impress his friends. He rides with friends and feels ecstatic over the victory (Joyce, 2). He fondly contemplates over the investment in a motor venture. He enjoys being is such good company. Excessive drinking makes him feel reckless, and he fails to stop before losing all his money. He regrets the loss.
TWO GALLANTS
Two criminals discuss women and stealing (Joyce, 1). They hatch a plan to get the girl to steal for them. One thinks all women are just sex objects and disrespects them by calling then tarts. He feels no love, only craving satisfaction. Neither have any morals, feel nothing for anyone, but themselves. Both feel women are a means to a monetary end. No love, just lust.
THE BOARDING HOUSE
A religious woman moves her daughter to a place that she turns into a boarding house for men. Mom feels angry when she notices her daughter is involved with a lodger (Joyce, 1). The man feels guilt and worries what his priest would say. Mom pushes marriage as something that is inescapable. She feels gratified at the manipulation of the lodger.
A LITTLE CLOUD
This is a story about two friends meeting for a drink after a long absence (Joyce, 1). One has a successful writing career, the other, not so much. The one who stayed in Dublin feels disappointed at not following his dream as a poet. This causes a feeling of regret for the first man. He feels cheated. The visitor feels superior and has no empathy for him.
COUNTERPARTS
Someone hates his lot in life, and boring job. The protagonist feels anger about his pathetic life. The anger builds when the boss discovers mistakes at work. The rage inside him causes him to escape to a pub. Now fueled by alcohol, he loses control and beats his child, because his wife went to church instead of getting dinner ready. He feels sorry for himself, and he thinks the world is against him.
CLAY
Mary is a happy person, and everyone loves her. She is a peacemaker and sheds a positive light on Dublin, even when she is not. She is devoutly religious and lives a quiet happy life despite how hard she works. Mary seems happy to hide the sadness she feels. She accepts her life as God’s will.
A PAINFUL CASE
Love threatens to unsettle a man’s orderly life. He chooses to abstain, and in later years, the woman dies. He feels remorse for of not taking a chance on love. He now knows regret but accepts that solitude and guilt are his crosses to bear.
IVY DAY IN THE COMMITTEE ROOM
Two men are sitting by the fire when a man stops to criticize the candidate for Mayor. Men feel anger that the candidate is slow to pay them for their work. Another man arrives, and the others suspect he informs for the rival candidate and this makes them feel suspicious.
A MOTHER
This story portrays a mother married for convenience, instead of love (Joyce, 1). She is very demanding. She obsesses about her daughter it makes her irate. The others around her feel anger about her aggression. She feels they would treat her different is she was a man. She destroys her daughter’s career by taking her away. Everyone in the theatre feels irritated and angry by this. She fears about her station in society and not her daughter.
GRACE
A man falls down the stairs outside a pub and injures his tongue. A friend offers to take him home. The wife feels anger and frustration about his excessive drinking (Joyce, 1). The visitor feels irritation about the children, because of how they speak. He feels fearful of tarnishing his reputation.
THE DEAD
A man has an encounter with women at a party given by his aunt. He feels self-conscious after he asks the servant about her love life. Another party attendee’s questions about his political beliefs just send him over the edge of decorum. He feels exasperated that she knows more about it. He is mortified over losing control of his decorum. Kevin Maher points to this remark by the protagonist “One by one, they were all becoming shades.” It sums up his feeling of frustration nicely (Maher, 1).
Conclusion
In all the stories by Joyce, the common threads are politics, religion, and failure of the protagonists to commit to making changes that could better their lives. Each protagonist feels anger at their lot in life but is fearful of changing it.
Works Cited
Hall, G.K. 2001 the Dubliners Library Journal Review Web
https://www.buffalolib.org/vufind/Record/1114908/Reviews
Joyce, James, the Dubliners 1914 Ebook
htpp://www.gutenberbproject/files/2814/2814-h/2814h.htm
Maher, Kevin A Gut-Punch of Sadness in James Joyce’s ‘Dubliners.’
http://www.npr.org/2013/07/21/198068094/a-gut-punch-of-sadness-in-james-joyces-
Dubliners