The choices we make in life will always have an effect on our future one way or another. The choices at times can help benefit, or in some way destroy, our lives and our future. Fears of the unknown and change have always found a way of rearing their ugly head and making us second guess ourselves. At times, fear of the unknown is so great that the choice we should make becomes unthinkable, unbearable, and even unreachable. Not many people can deal with fear even, if it means eventually having a better life for them or someone else. However, there are people who are strong enough to fight whatever comes their way with everything they have in their body, mind, and spirit. There are people like Eveline who find a decision too difficult to make and end up losing out on a better future. Eveline is a young lady of 19 (Meyer, 420) who has faced countless challenges in her life. In this story, she faces one of her most difficult choices that had the power to completely change her life. Eveline had the chance to leave her home and start a new life with Frank, someone she really loves. The closer it got to the time for her to leave her old life behind for a new life, the harder the choice of leaving became for this young lady. At 19, this decision could not have been easy. No young lady at the age of 19 wants to face a decision to leave her father and run off with a gentleman, even if it is the best thing for her at the moment. Eveline’s biggest opportunity for “life and happiness” was right in front of her; however, fear stopped her from reaching out and grabbing it. Eveline’s will to live was not as strong as she thought it was, she was too wrapped up in her life and was truly not ready to give it up. When she was at the pier about to ... ... middle of paper ... ...ther would be alone with no one to take care of him, especially with his drinking problem. The guilt of leaving those two children, she was responsible for ran through her mind too. Who would look after them when she was gone? Would they be better off without her? Those were just some of the questions going through her mind as she was sitting. Fear is a problem that people face on a daily base. Eveline’s fear did not allow her to leave the life she had for a new life with Frank. Many things throughout the story showed how suffocated Eveline was and that she wanted to escape her life. However, when it came down for her to make a decision she froze. Eveline fears caught her and she made her decision. Works Cited Meyer, Michael. "Eveline." Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, and Writing. S.l.: Bedford Bks St Martin'S, 2014. 420-23. Print.
Source #3: Kennedy, X.J., and Dana Gioia. Literature An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 9th. New York: Pearson Longman, 2005.
...X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, 8th Ed., edited by Joseph Terry. New York: Longman, 2002.
Updike, John. "A & P." Literature: Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. Ed. Robert DiYanni. 5th ed. New York: McGraw, 1998. 27-31.
Meyer, Michael, ed. The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999.
Bibliography:.. Works Cited Meyer, M., Ed., (1999). Bedford Introduction to Literature, 5th Ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin.
Updike, John. "A & P." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. By X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 12th ed. Boston: -Pearson, 2013. 17-21. Print
Greenblatt, Stephen, and M. H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 9th ed. Vol. A. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print
It is obvious that Eveline is held accountable due to cultural expectations. Though, Eveline had the right mindset she just didn’t have the guzzlers to do so. Her father is an unreliable man. Her father cares so much about alcohol he is oblivious that he is pulling his kids away from him. Sadly, he seems to always find a way to her heart that leaves room for sympathy and fear when she engages in living for the better. Eveline only wanted one thing was to see her family but her father would not allow it. This leaves Eveline to suffocating thoughts she doesn’t cope with well. She will drive out thoughts that make her life distraught. Only strength she can be relied on is her imagination of escape. Eveline had been outcast as the weaker sex just like other women. Males role always were known as the aggressive type. During those time of years it was right for a man to be the head, the protector, and provider. Women tend to be the home overseers and they had no option but to cater to their husbands, provide food, stability, and care. In this time of gender expectation, women had no say so. They were the last resort for anything. As stated in her story, “This indifference or concealed hostility of
Eveline has always felt lonely ever since her mother’s death but especially now when there is nothing more she can do with her life but find someone to take her away and love her. Eveline’s desire for a better life seems like it may come true when she meets Frank who she thinks will take her away to Buenos Aires. When her chance comes along for her to leave with Frank she too pushes her chance away. She thinks that she no longer deserves a better life other than fulfilling her duties to her family and chooses to be alone for eternity.
Beers, Kylene. Elements of Literature. Vol. 5. Austin, [Tex.: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2009. Print.]
Kennedy, X. J., & Gioia, D. (2013). Symbol. In J. Terry, K. Glynn & D. Campion (Eds.), Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing (7 ed., pp. 234-245; pp. 250-256). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.
Meyer, Michael, ed. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford-St. Martin's, 1999. 97.
She wants Frank to give her life and “perhaps love, too. But she wanted to live” (Joyce). This states that she doesn’t really love Frank. She just wants to get out, and if Frank could give her love, too, that would be a plus. The story recalls that, “Her eyes gave him no sign of love or farewell or recognition” (Joyce). This shows that she doesn’t look at Frank as her love or husband. She just wants a way out and Frank is her only way out of the life she lives now. Eveline states that, “Frank would save her. He would give her life” (Joyce). This suggests that she just wants more life back into her isolated life. She wants to go with him and move on because she wants to be saved and wants to have life because the house she lives in now doesn’t have life. If Eveline goes with Frank “People would treat her with respect then” (Joyce). She would have a better life with Frank and would be treated better, but she is too scared to leave her old life behind even if it is worse. At the end of the story she can’t leave her family behind and won’t get on the boat with Frank to leave her other life behind. “Her hands clutched the iron in frenzy” (Joyce), “its protagonist literally left frozen at the point of her escape, unable to board the ship that promises to carry her out of the city” (Latham 123). This is a symbol of her holding on to her old life and not being able to leave that behind to go and live with
Abrams, M. & Greenblatt, S. 2000. The Norton Anthology of English Literature 7th ed. Vol. 2. London: Norton.
"She stood up in a sudden impulse of terror. Escape! She must escape! Frank would save her." (Joyce 32) Although Eveline knew that her life could be beautiful with Frank, she just can not build up the courage to get on that ship to leave with Frank. The chains that bind Eveline such as her family, her fears of the unknown and her lack of response to love are extremely corroded, but no matter how much they are consumed, there was indeed no easy way for her to break away from this bondage.