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McLoughlin Dubliners Blog 2

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Out of all of the stories in Dubliners, I felt that “Clay” was the most anticlimactic. The main character, Maria, is not faced with a life-altering decision, and is instead shown going about her daily routine and attending a Halloween celebration. This story was enjoyable because it characterized a typical woman just going about her everyday routine with a fun holiday celebration at the end. It was much more casual than any of the other stories in the collection, but still exemplified the mind-numbing routineness that the Dubliners characters experience.
The irony in this story was the most significant part: how Maria was clearly adored by all of the other characters in the story, but, when playing the Halloween game, she put her hands into the clay. The clay signifies an early death. Obviously, that is the last thing that the other characters want, and they quickly come up with an excuse to have Maria redo her turn. I liked how all of the characters cared so much about this one woman. It is plain to see how much of an influence Maria has had on all of the characters’ lives, especially Joe Donnelly’s. The story highlighted how influential and important one person can be to so many other people, which was touching and meaningful.

I found Maria to be one of the most interesting characters in the whole collection of stories. She seemed to always find the best in people. For instance, when she heard that Joe Donnelly had had a falling out with his brother, Alphy, Maria tried to put in a good word about Alphy to Joe to try and help fix the relationship. She also went out of her way to pick up treats for the Donnelly family. After realizing she must have left the plum cake she bought for Mr and Mrs Donnelly on the tram, she only gets frustrated with herself for being so distracted by the nice man she sat next to. She never assumes that he had stolen it, which is something that would be assumed in today’s society in many cases. It’s appealing to me that Maria is such a nice person without really trying, and everyone seems to admire and respect her throughout the story.
At the end, when Maria is asked to perform a song for everyone, she makes a mistake in singing the first verse of the song twice. Knowing that Maria was shy about her singing, no member of the Donnelly family was willing to bring up the mistake, saving Maria from embarrassment out of respect for her. The other characters look past Maria’s flaws because they all love her for who she is. It’s heartwarming and sweet to see how the Donnelly’s care for Maria in their own way while she cares for them in her way.
However, it’s important to note how, even though she attends a holiday celebration later in the day, Maria is subject to the same kind of repetitive routine as characters in previous stories. Maria is comfortable with her daily routine and when Joe Donnelly had asked her to move in with his family, she refused the change: “She had become accustomed to the life of the laundry” (Joyce 82). At first, Maria was unsure about her job, but after a while she became comfortable with the routine and the people she dealt with on a daily basis: the Protestants. The ability to acclimate to a routinely life is a trait that many Dubliners have. The inability to appreciate change or a break in routine can also be found within many characters of Dubliners and can be attributed to the city’s affect on the people.

Source: Joyce, James. Dubliners. Penguin Group, 2014.

 -Madison McLoughlin

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