Death in the Dubliners by James Joyce

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                                               Death in the Dubliners by James Joyce                                              

Death in the Dubliners has a wide representation of various highlights on how death affects people differently. Death can be said to be spiritual or mental, however, in either case, it causes significant realignment on character’s lifestyle. Joyce applies death as a functional theme in the novel (Torchiana). The story’s road concentration on death makes a rather elusive concept which can be subject to critical analysis. This research paper, therefore, tends to explore various instances of how death affects people differently in the Dubliners by James Joyce.

Firstly, Dubliners story “The Sisters” recounts the Death of Father Flynn which functions as an access to the story. The advent of death in the church opens up to the life of a boy. It unveils strange relations of the priest and the boy. Contrary to adult’s expectation of the boy’s reaction to the incident, he seemed not distressed but seemed confused about the feeling he should have following the priest death (Yildiz 2).

Another notable effect of death can be seen in Dubliners “Eveline” which recounts how a death person haunted the living in Dublin. The story gives a glimpse of a good life of Eveline, a character in the novel who enjoyed a good life while her mother was alive (Kennedy). Her mother’s death came with greater responsibilities of the family. Reminiscences of her dead mother play a critical role in her dilemma of either staying at home or leaving Dublin with her lover (Joyce 28). Further influence of death is seen when she feels guilty of breaking mother’s promise on the dock, which makes her spiritually paralyzed during her departure.

Mrs. Sinico’s death also influences James Duffy’s life. The aftershock of her death brings in a rather unusual aspect of life to James. As she envisions her death, a self-realization engulfs his earlier selfish approach (Maher). From this perspective, Duffy is a living dead, while Mrs. Sinico is physically dead (Yildiz 4). Lastly, the concept of death plays a critical role in the story, it has a role in shifting probable individual emotions and energy from oneself to others. From the paper, it can be concluded that death affects people in differing ways. Many of instances of death in Dubliners in cause’s adverse effects to the living, some feeling a sense of relief like the unnamed boy, while others being penitent like James Duff. Effects of death to the people is sometimes the spirit of Ireland, people become subject to structural routine, and some encountered paralysis as shown by Eveline in the story.

Reference

Joyce, James. "Dubliners. 1914." New York: Oxford UP (2000).

Kennedy, Brittany. "James Joyce's "The Dead" In Dubliners: Repetition And The Living Dead Analysis". LetterPile. N.p., 2016. Web. 2 Apr. 2017.

Yildiz Fırat. "The Concept of Death in Joyce’s Dubliners ‘Dubliners’ ta Ölüm Kavramı’." Karadeniz Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 5.8 (2013)

Torchiana, Donald T. Backgrounds for Joyce's Dubliners. Vol. 8. Routledge, 2015.

Maher, Kevin. "A Gut-Punch Of Sadness In James Joyce's 'Dubliners'". NPR.org. N.p., 2013. Web. 2 Apr. 2017.