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""No Rain" - Blind Mellon |
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Ok. So, I haven't written lately. I'd like to say I want to more often, but I'm just not as compelled to do so as others are. I don't know. Half the time, I look at whatever I write about and think how hopeless I am. Really. The only thing I've been happy about lately is my James Joyce paper I wrote for AP English. I think I had the highest grade in both classes. Take that, anal retentive pukes! *sigh* It isn't even all that great though. I don't see it. I mean, it's mostly crap I wrote the morning it was due. It seems that's always my excuse though. At times I wonder if that is why I procrastinate... Just to be able to blame the last-minute-ish-ness if it isn't as great as I wish it was. Oh well. I may as well share for anyone who is very pathetic. Oh, and yeah. It's slightly out of format from transferring it from WordPerfect.
Christopher Price
Trapped in Dark Water: Dubliners
In Dubliners, James Joyce utilizes symbolism, characterization, and thematic paralysis throughout "Araby," "Eveline," and "Counterparts," preparing the reader for an epiphany. Joyce's epiphanies, the sudden immense realization a character has, occur as they expose the climax. Joyce's style allows the reader to sense the characters' hopelessness, which adds dramatic irony. By involving his readers, Joyce conjures sympathy for his protagonists and concurrently provides a cathartic sense to compel his audience.
"Araby," a short story by Joyce held within Dubliners allows the reader to understand what ending there will be for the protagonist from the first page until its conclusion. Obviously, Joyce wishes to create a desperate sense of dramatic irony, making the reader alert of the effects proceeding every action. Firstly, this is developed through symbolism. Joyce writes, "The wild garden behind the house contained a central apple-tree and a few straggling bushes under one of which I found the late tenant's rusty bicycle pump." Choosing this private setting, Joyce shows the secret desire of the narrator to reach something which he is incapable of attaining. Placing the symbolism before the characters can reveal themselves fully, Joyce sets dramatic irony and preparation of the epiphany for the audience.
Thematic paralysis is also demonstrated by the method of escape, a bicycle pump, being rusted and useless. The boy is stuck, hoping he will achieve his goal. Instead, he is left alone, in his ‘garden,' unable to call for help. The paralytic aspect of "Araby" is seen in this way by the situation not changing.
The next method of foreshadowing the epiphany is characterization. The narrator is described as being young, and is developed to be naive and idealistic. The boy idolizes Mangan's sister and sets himself for ultimate disappointment at the moment the epiphany is revealed. The thematic paralysis, a common trait of every Dubliners story, is created as a looming topic on the minds of everyone. In "Araby," the narrator is incapacitated, even though he does not at first accept his fate as being too young for any of his fantasies to spring to life. The moment of the epiphany comes directly after Joyce tells the reader:
Remembering with difficulty why I had come, I went over to one of the stalls and examined porcelain vases and flowered tea-sets. At the door of the stall a young lady was talking and laughing with two young gentlemen ... Observing me the young lady came over and asked me did I wish to buy anything. The tone of her voice was not encouraging; she seemed to have spoken to me out of a sense of duty. I looked humbly at the great jars that stood like eastern guards at either side of the dark entrance of the stall and murmured, ‘No, thank you.'
Directly after realizing how he is treated by older girls, the narrator accepts that he is too young to be an object of love. The boy then sees himself as "a creature driven by vanity." The author also tells the reader through narration that the boy's eyes "burned with anguish and anger." Joyce concludes "Araby" by revealing the epiphany which he prepares from the first page.
"Eveline," the second example of Joyce's ability to prepare the reader for an epiphany also can be shown through the symbolism of names. An instance of such symbolic use is the name Frank. Joyce uses Frank's name to show that Eveline is falsely afraid of the man lying. As an adjective, "frank" means honest. As a verb, "frank" means to allow passage or leaving freely and easily. Although not done easily, Eveline lets Frank leave Ireland. Joyce shows through the symbolism and the significance of the man's name, that it is probably a mistake to let him go. Joyce shows Eveline's early hopes for the man, "Frank would save her. He would give her life, perhaps love too. But she wanted to live. Why should she be unhappy? She had a right to happiness." By showing Eveline's dreams, Joyce introduces the reader to the situation where the epiphany will occur.
The characterization in "Eveline" proves to the attentive reader that Joyce alludes to the epiphany before he reveals it. Joyce tells the reader:
As she mused the pitiful version of her mother's life laid its spell on the very quick of her being- that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness. She trembled as she heard again her mother's voice saying constantly with foolish insistence, " Derevaun Seraun! Derevaun Seraun!"
With such a powerful image of repetitious persistence of the family around Eveline, it is quite apparent that the young woman comes into conflict with her obligations. By causing Eveline to tremble as she hears the constant shouting of "Derevaun Seraun!" Joyce properly instructs the audience to expect the moment that Eveline will be paralyzed by nonsense. "Derevaun Seraun," are nonsense words. Eveline is trapped in the call to trivial and nonsensical family obligations, disallowing her romantic happiness. Having promised her mother of her wish, "Derevaun Seraun," and still being completely ignorant to the phrases origin, Eveline is afraid that she would break her promise to the matriarch of her family. Having since taken those very duties, Eveline feels she must fulfill her obligations. These duties allow Joyce's audience to view from what heights Eveline falls with the coming epiphany.
Although Eveline experiences her sudden need to escape from Ireland with Frank, she is paralyzed. Joyce develops the paralysis through his diction. He shares, "She stood up in a sudden impulse of terror. Escape! She must escape!" Using a subjective quality to his writing, Joyce successfully conveys the feeling of urgency, not only for Eveline, but for the reader as well. Eveline's epiphany comes when the realization that she cannot leave her home with Frank. Joyce writes:
The boat blew a mourningful whistle into the mist. If she went, tomorrow she would be on the sea with Frank, steaming towards Buenos Ayres. Their passage had been booked. Could she still draw back after all he had done for her? Her distress awoke a nausea in her body as she kept moving her lips in a silent fervent prayer.
Eveline's epiphany comes to her when she is ready to leave Ireland. She realizes that she cannot leave her country no matter the circumstances. This revelation, of course, is prepared for the reader long before the characters acknowledge it.
In "Counterparts," Joyce prepares the reader for the epiphanies, much like in all of the Dubliners stories. Farrington, the protagonist's job is tedious and timely. He works as a clerk who makes copies of documents, all of which must be exact duplicates. An example of his occupational difficulty is shown by Joyce as Farrington, " ...struggled on with his copy, but when the clock struck five, he had still fourteen pages to write." His occupation and attitude are symbolic, as he angrily makes exact duplicates of every thought and line he records. This prepares the reader for how he conditions at least one of his sons, impressing him with the displaced aggravation Farrington has for himself. He transfers everything onto another sheet—— spreading the discontent.
Farrington is developed as being foolish and too eager to prove he is not obscure and growing old. A prime example can be seen at the bar. He tries desperately to prove his worth. However, Weathers beats him in an arm wrestling match. Farrington is as a result humiliated. Disappointed in himself, Farrington has his fist epiphany that, "He had lost his reputation as a strong man being twice defeated by a mere boy." He is not the man who he always imagines he is.
Joyce prepares the reader for the story's second epiphany through paralysis. Not only does his job trap Farrington, but his family life as well. As a Catholic, Farrington cannot divorce his wife. Instead, he remains miserable and stuck with his wife who, "bullied her husband when he was sober and was bullied by him when he was drunk." If his wife is not around to abuse, Farrington turns to his children. It is made obvious that pain, anger and humiliation cannot go away, even with forgiveness, but only transferred to the ‘next copy.' "Counterparts" leaves the reader with the haunting cry of Farrington's son, "O pa! Don't beat me, pa! And I'll say a Hail Mary for you... I'll say a Hail Mary for you... Pa, if you don't beat me ... I'll say a Hail Mary...."
Joyce prepares the reader for an epiphany through the use of symbolism, characterization, and thematic paralysis. This techniques are seen in the short stories "Araby," "Eveline," and "Counterparts."
So yeah. That's it. Thanks if you cared to read it. You're a loser. BUT I LOVE YOU. So, it's all good (the you being a loser. Not the writing.)
Later I guess.
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bouncy
amused
awake
lethargic
complacent
Berkana - Growth, abundance, fertility, Mother Earth, protection, the zenith of an idea or situation. 
Ehwaz - Abrupt changes, moving into new home and environment, travel, swift change in situation.
Ansuz - Communications, wisdom and clarity, to attract others to your cause, increase magickal energy. 
crazy
...Word to your mother!
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indescribable
cynical
devious