The Nature of Thought in Joyce

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The Nature of Thought in Joyce

Thought is a problem in Joyce's work. His characters' obscure trains of thought and remembrance constantly challenge the reader to keep up. I will argue that the depths of this obscurity are not, in fact, murky; they are a response to his introspection about the nature of thought, and reflect a coherent theory. Joyce often repeats phrases, and he makes such repetitions noticeable in order to direct the reader to the questions: What is thought? And what are the unconscious processes of the mind? His characters are unpredictable, experiencing truly surprising emotional reactions. This unexpectedness adds depth and verisimilitude to characterization; as in life, the strongest emotional experiences are ones that can be described, but not shared.

At the end of Christmas supper, Gabriel Conroy stands up and makes a lengthy toast. As he orates, he is working in part from a mental outline (which he went over in his mind earlier in the story), and partly improvising. The improvisational part, since it is generated as he speaks, is open to modification by the events of the story and by Gabriel's judgment of the audience's reaction.

The narrator never describes a change in Gabriel's plans for the speech, but at some unknown point during the story, his plan to quote Browning is canceled. At the beginning, "he was undecided about the lines from Robert Browning, for he feared they would be above the heads of his hearers" (121). Gabriel struggles with two competing pressures: demonstrating his erudition, and entertaining the audience. The next time he consciously mulls over his speech, it is much closer to dinner. At this point, Gabriel's mental outline reveals that the verses are to be his closing words;...

... middle of paper ...

...rary associations that serve as the triggers for emotional memories, and with the curious power of the past. His later work takes these ideas even farther; in "Circe," the contents of the unconscious play the roles of an absurd drama, while in "Penelope," memories of past loves affect Molly like they affect Gretta (nostalgia) and Gabriel (arousal). Joyce illustrates problems of cognition and emotion-he does not solve them-but at least he is able to come to terms with them. In his attention to memory and the unconscious, Joyce displays his concern for the subjective experiences that differentiate one individual from another.

Works Cited

Joyce, James. Dubliners. Mineola, NY: Dover, 1991.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Mineola, NY: Dover, 1994.

Kenner, Hugh. "The Cubist Portrait." In Approaches to Joyce's Portrait. Pittsburgh:

Pittsburgh UP, 1977.

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