An Irish Quandary in James Joyce's Dubliners

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An Irish Quandary in James Joyce's Dubliners

James Joyce's "Eveline" is one of fifteen short stories in her novel, Dubliners. It was written during the British oppression of Ireland and therefore was not published until nine years after its completion. "Eveline" tells the story of a young adult named Eveline, who is having difficulty choosing between: leaving her family for a new life and staying, to protect her younger siblings and keep the household together. This story depicts the inner turmoil felt by anyone making a similar decision. The story demonstrates the quandary, or perplexity, of deciding whether to immigrate to another country, leave everything you know and love behind, to start a new life. Joyce's own life must be understood for a proper discussion of the above quandary.

James Joyce was born in Dublin, on February 2, 1882. He was the oldest of ten children and left his family, in 1902, to study medicine in Paris. Joyce spent all his time writing instead. Joyce was one of the many families, part of the Catholic population, which suffered economic and social depression. His family lost all their money because of his father's spendthrift behavior. The Irish were also oppressed by the British during this time. Joyce suffered all of these, along with the loss of his mother in 1903. He returned during his mother's final months, and during this time met his wife-to-be, Nora Barnacle. They were wed in 1931 and moved to Paris, France, where they started a family. During World War I, Joyce moved to Zurich, Switzerland for safety and moved back to Trieste, France after the war. James Joyce died in Zurich, on January 13, 1941.

During Joyce's life, the Irish immigration to the U.S. boomed, caused by a multitude of reasons. Two very important reasons were: the potato famine and British oppression. The potato famine killed over one million Irish and was a powerful impetus of the immigration movement. The most important factor, though, was the act of British oppression. The British had control of Ireland. The British forced the Irish to pay taxes, and influenced the Irish with their British Protestantism.

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