In Dubliners, I found “Eveline” to be the most compelling story in the collection. Personally, it was hard to understand Eveline’s way of thinking and how she came to the decision to stay in Dublin with her father rather than take on a new life in Buenos Aires with Frank at first. It was interesting to read how the city, her childhood, and her relationships had affected Eveline’s ability to make decisions. The way that Eveline was reminiscent of her life before Frank made it obvious from the beginning that she would choose to stay in Dublin, continue her day to day routine, and ignore the part of her that wanted to be happy and begin an entirely new life.
For the most part, I felt like she spoke of her current home life with adoration and a sense of unfinished business. She was constantly looking for excuses to stay in Dublin, but also trying to find reasons to go start a new life. For example, she contemplated how she never knew the name of the priest who went to school with her father and whose photograph hung in the room she dusted weekly. She also noted: “Her father was becoming old lately, she noticed; he would miss her” (Joyce 28). On the other hand, she also remembers her father’s abusiveness and her fearfulness of him. The city of Dublin, the home where she grew up, and the relationships that Eveline currently has all have a strong hold on her, not willing to let her just leave the country without serious contemplation. The best representation of this was way she clings onto the letters she had written to her father and brother, metaphorically clinging onto the only home and only relationships she had ever known. The letter metaphor was really significant to the story and highlights how Dublin has a tendency to hold its characters back.
Familiarity plays a huge role in Eveline’s life and, ultimately, her decision to stay in Dublin. With it, she feels safe and secure. Her life in Dublin is repetitive; it’s the same thing every day. It may not really be living, but the routine is safe and comfortable. The idea of breaking the routine and completely starting a new life in an unfamiliar place terrifies Eveline enough to paralyze her, leaving her in a mindless state of emotionless repetition.
The most frustrating part of reading this story and trying to understand Eveline’s decision was where she reminisced about her late mother. Eveline acknowledged that she was terrified to end up like her mother. Eveline then looks to Frank to save her from a fate such as her mother’s. However, when she is standing on the platform faced with her decision, he fear is redirected toward Frank: “He would drown her” (Joyce 29). She doesn’t know what romantic love is, and the idea of it scares her. Her fear of love combined with her fear of the unknown paralyze her. Eveline’s life could be so much happier and safer. In the end, she is more afraid to start a new life outside of Dublin.
As someone who embraces unfamiliarity and the opportunity to explore new places, Eveline’s decision to stay was difficult for me to understand. Of course, I have many fond memories of my childhood home, but I would never consider not moving on when an opportunity presented itself as it did for Eveline. After reading the whole collection of stories, her decision made more sense. The city of Dublin, in that time period, was a place where people felt safe to have the same comfortable routine day in and day out. Eveline was more afraid of the unknown future, of actually living, and of love than she was of continuing her life in an emotionless routine.
Source: Joyce, James. Dubliners. Penguin Group, 2014.
-Madison McLoughlin
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