James Joyce Influences

1303 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: James joyce dubliners and religion

James Joyce was born on February 2, 1882 in Rathgar, Republic of Ireland. He was an Irish novelist and poet. James Joyce is considered one of the most influential writers in the early 20th century. James Sullivan said, “James Joyce is a preeminent modernist writer and a great innovator (Magill's 1347). He wrote many novels and short stories, but some of his most famous are in a collection of short stories call Dubliners. In Dubliners there are many well-known stories such as “The Dead”, “The Sisters”, “Clay”, and “The Encounter.” There are many different aspects of his writing that make him one of the most influential writers. Some of those aspects are his themes, characterizations, and plots of his stories. One example is how most of his stories from Dubliners are dreadful and dark. The recurring themes throughout Dubliners are institutions,economic failure and the corruption of values, and finally paralysis.
Joyce is a master of style, and readers can find a different one for each of his major works (Magill’s 1342). This excerpt from Magill’s is an excellent way to describe James Joyce’s writing because it is a true statement.Throughout many of his works he use many different themes to make his stories more interesting to the reader, and one of those is his use of institutions. Throughout Dubliners Joyce make many hints about views on religion, what he thinks about the world, and views about politics. These thoughts and views are found in three short stories found in Dubliners. The first story is “A Mother” which gives the reader a view of the musical world seen in Dublin (Magill’s 1343). I “A Mother” it talks about a man further named Mr. Holohan who is trying to organize a concert in Dublin which would feature a young well-...

... middle of paper ...

...t about leaving her father and how she does not want to leave her father. This gives one of the best examples of paralysis because we can relate too. Her being paralysis caused her to leave Frank and go live with her father. The final of Joyce’s use of paralysis in Dubliners is found in “The Dead”. Although paralysis is found in many parts of the Dead the most important and noticeable is in a character called Gabriel. In “The Dead” Gabriel is tired and is sick of his country of Ireland. He says he really wants to leave the country that he grew up in and go to another country and find happiness and excitement. His feeling change before he is about to leave though when he is filled with paralysis and does not want to leave where he has live for so long. Although there are many themes that make up Dubliners, paralysis is definitely the most important and noticeable.

Show More
Related

  • Thematic Purpose Behind Snow

    1348 Words  | 3 Pages

    James Joyce is praised for his distinct stylistic purpose and furthermore for his writings in the art of free direct discourse. Though at times his language may seem muddled and incoherent, Joyce adds a single fixture to his narratives that conveys unity and creates meaning in the otherwise arbitrary dialogue. Within the story “The Dead”, the final and most recognizable piece in the collection Dubliners, the symbol of snow expresses a correlation with the central character and shows the drastic transformation of such a dynamic character in Gabriel Conroy. The symbol of snow serves as the catalyst that unifies mankind through the flawed essence of human nature, and shows progression in the narrow mind of Gabriel. Snow conveys the emission of the otherwise superficial thoughts of Gabriel and furthermore allows for the realization of the imperfections encompassed by mankind. Riquelme’s deconstruction of the text allows for the understanding that the story cannot be read in any specific way, but the variance in meaning, as well as understanding depends solely upon the readers’ perspective. Following a personal deconstruction of the text, it is reasonable to agree with Riquelme’s notions, while correspondingly proposing that the symbol of snow represents the flaws, and strengths of Gabriel, as well as the other characters as it effects all equally.

    Read More

  • Search for Meaning in James Joyce's Dubliners

    2387 Words  | 5 Pages

    Twentieth Century Interpretations of Dubliners. Prentice-Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: 1968. Torchiana, Donald T. Backgrounds for Joyce’s Dubliners. Allen & Unwin, Inc. Winchester, Massachusetts: 1986.

    Read More

  • The Theme of Escape in James Joyce’s Dubliners

    1058 Words  | 3 Pages

    In James Joyce’s Dubliners, the theme of escape tends to be a trend when characters are faced with critical decisions. Joyce’s novel presents a bleak and dark view of Ireland; his intentions by writing this novel are to illustrate people’s reasons to flee Ireland. In the stories “Eveline, “Counterparts”, and the “Dead”, characters are faced with autonomous decisions that shape their lives. This forlorn world casts a gloomy shadow over the characters of these stories. These stories are connected by their similar portrayal of Ireland. They clearly represent Joyce’s views on people’s discontent with Ireland.

    Read More

  • Religion In James Joyce's Dubliners

    1175 Words  | 3 Pages

    A collection of short stories published in 1907, Dubliners, by James Joyce, revolves around the everyday lives of ordinary citizens in Dublin, Ireland (Freidrich 166). According to Joyce himself, his intention was to "write a chapter of the moral history of [his] country and [he] chose Dublin for the scene because the city seemed to [b]e the centre of paralysis" (Friedrich 166). True to his goal, each of the fifteen stories are tales of disappointment, darkness, captivity, frustration, and flaw. The book is divided into four sections: childhood, adolescence, maturity, and public life (Levin 159). The structure of the book shows that gradually, citizens become trapped in Dublin society (Stone 140). The stories portray Joyce's feeling that Dublin is the epitome of paralysis and all of the citizens are victims (Levin 159). Although each story from Dubliners is a unique and separate depiction, they all have similarities with each other. In addition, because the first three stories -- The Sisters, An Encounter, and Araby parallel each other in many ways, they can be seen as a set in and of themselves. The purpose of this essay is to explore one particular similarity in order to prove that the childhood stories can be seen as specific section of Dubliners. By examining the characters of Father Flynn in The Sisters, Father Butler in An Encounter, and Mangan's sister in Araby, I will demonstrate that the idea of being held captive by religion is felt by the protagonist of each story. In this paper, I argue that because religion played such a significant role in the lives of the middle class, it was something that many citizens felt was suffocating and from which it was impossible to get away. Each of the three childhood stories uses religion to keep the protagonist captive. In The Sisters, Father Flynn plays an important role in making the narrator feel like a prisoner. Mr. Cotter's comment that "… a young lad [should] run about and play with young lads of his own age…" suggests that the narrator has spent a great deal of time with the priest. Even in death, the boy can not free himself from the presence of Father Flynn (Stone 169) as is illustrated in the following passage: "But the grey face still followed me. It murmured; and I understood that it desired to confess something.

    Read More

  • Isolation In James Joyce's The Dead

    1453 Words  | 3 Pages

    James Joyce is considered one of the most popular authors of the Modernist time period because of his short story The Dead. The Dead takes place in Scotland during the feast of Epiphany on January 6. At the party the Kate and Julia Morkan eagerly await Gabriel Conroy, their favorite nephew and his wife Gretta to arrive. Gabriel is a well educated Scottish man who is isolated threw out the party by the situations he encounters. Joyce uses situations snd key points like his education and encounters between characters to show how isolated he has and is becoming from the rest of his friends threw out the party. Although, Gabriel doesn't realize his isolation between himself and rest, it is clear to the reader that he is being alienated from society.

    Read More

  • The Modern Relevance of Themes in James Joyce's Eveline

    927 Words  | 2 Pages

    James Joyce is widely considered to be one of the best authors of the 20th century. One of James Joyce’s most celebrated short stories is “Eveline.” This short story explores the theme of order and hazard and takes a critical look at life in Dublin, Ireland, in the early 20th century. Furthermore, the themes that underlie “Eveline” were not only relevant for the time the story was written, but are just as relevant today. The major theme explored in “Eveline” is the idea of order and hazard.

    Read More

  • Male and Female Paralysis in James Joyce's Dubliners

    3570 Words  | 8 Pages

    Garrett, Peter K., ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Dubliners. Prentice-Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: 1968.

    Read More

  • Personal Paralysis in Dubliners by James Joyce

    1842 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...ralysis relative to their situation, in which spiritual, internal and mental paralysis was in effect. Paralysis is seeping through the street of Dublin affecting the people and thus society. Unfortunately, there is no solution presented and so people remain trapped. The three stories are all about common everyday people that anyone could come across walking the streets of Dublin, and it extends further in that these characters represent the majority of the people living in Dublin with paralysis. It is like a disease that has no cure and James Joyce intelligently constructs this into his work and subtly brings the problem into light for the reader and leaves the reader in thought and contemplation. Paralysis, while in Dublin, is a problem all over the world and it all comes down to exposing the paralysis and then facing it, but alas, it is easier said than done.

    Read More

  • Desire of Escape

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Dubliners, James Joyce tells short stories of individuals struggling with life, in the city of Dublin. “It is a long road that has no turning” (Irish Proverb). Many individuals fight the battle and continue on the road. However, some give up and get left behind. Those who continue to fight the battle, often deal with constant struggle and suffering. A reoccurring theme, in which Joyce places strong emphasis on, is the constant struggle of fulfilling responsibilities. These responsibilities include; work, family and social expectations. Joyce writes about these themes because characters often feel trapped and yearn to escape from these responsibilities. In “The Little Cloud”, “Counterparts”, and “The Dead” characters are often trapped in unhappy living situations, often leading to a desire of escape from reality and daily responsibilities.

    Read More

  • General Criticism of Araby by James Joyce

    1439 Words  | 3 Pages

    Thomas, Steve. "Dubliners by James Joyce." ebooks@Adelaide. The University of Adelaide, 23 Aug 2010. Web. 20 Jan 2011

    Read More

  • The Role Of Women In James Joyce's The Dubliners

    1207 Words  | 3 Pages

    James Joyce wrote and published The Dubliners in the 1900s. During the majority of this time period, Ireland was thought of as one of the most oppressive countries in Europe. The Catholic Church was seen as the highest extent of the law and they did not encourage seeing women any higher than the second-class commonwealth of Ireland. In James Joyce’s The Dubliners, women are seen as victims of society, religion and the household. James Joyce leans towards feminism in how he portrays women in this book. However, even though most of the women in his stories face hardships and play against each other to get money, he promoted women’s suffrage through his short stories in The Dubliners.

    Read More

  • Theme of Love in Joyce’s Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and Ulysses

    2128 Words  | 5 Pages

    Joyce, James. Dubliners. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. The Portable James Joyce. Harry Levin, ed. Penguin. 1976, New York. Ulysses. Vintage, New York. 1961.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Araby And The Dead By James Joyce

    1033 Words  | 3 Pages

    James Joyce began his writing career in 1914 with a series of realistic stories published in a collection called The Dubliners. These short literary pieces are a glimpse into the ‘paralysis’ that those who lived in the turn of the century Ireland and its capital experienced at various points in life (Greenblatt, 2277). Two of the selections, “Araby” and “The Dead” are examples of Joyce’s ability to tell a story with precise details while remaining a detached third person narrator. “Araby” is centered on the main character experiencing an epiphany while “The Dead” is Joyce’s experiment with trying to remain objective. One might assume Joyce had trouble with objectivity when it concerned the setting of Ireland because Dublin would prove to be his only topic. According the editors of the Norton Anthology of Literature, “No writer has ever been more soaked in Dublin, its atmosphere, its history, its topography. He devised ways of expanding his account of the Irish capital, however, so that they became microcosms of human history, geography, and experience.” (Greenblatt, 2277) In both “Araby” and “The Dead” the climax reveals an epiphany of sorts that the main characters experience and each realize his actual position in life and its ultimate permanency.

    Read More

  • Religion in James Joyce's Dubliners

    1449 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... of stories Dubliners, James Joyce leads the reader to the conclusion that the Catholic Church took the role of a governing body, and that modernist movement was inhibited by the outdated ideas of the Catholic Church. The story “The Boarding House” provides the reader with excellent examples of a priest who overextended his role in society, and it has been shown that such an occurrence has negative effects of the society as a whole. The Catholic church as a burdensome entity is very well shown in Joyce’s’ the “The sisters”. The story also provides us with a good explanation of the social connotations of religion within the modernist movement. In the stories of Dubliners the legal system is replaced by the institute of religion, and it is the presence and social context of the Catholic Church which prevents the Irish community from advancement.

    Read More

  • The Life And Times Of James Joyce

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    James Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, whose psychological views opened up a whole New World to twentieth century writers. He is still known as one of the most influential writers not only in Ireland, but all throughout Ireland. Joyce was born in Dublin on February 2, 1882, into the care of his mother and father, both poverty-stricken. He attended only Jesuit-run schools, first the boarding school, Clongowes, then the day school, Belvedere, and finally the Royal University, which was better known as the University College (Litz 8). While he attended Belvedere he enjoyed writing essays, and won several awards for his phenomenal test scores. Even as a young man, Joyce was destined to be well known and famous for the rest of his life. But by the end of his university years he had rejected Catholicism in favor of literature (Litz 8). His love for writing just had to come first before anything else.

    Read More

More about James Joyce Influences

Open Document