Dubliners In-Class Essay

The eighteenth-century British novelist Laurence Sterne wrote, "No body,

but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a
man's mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both
obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time."
Using either: The Sisters, Eveline or A Little Cloud, choose a
character (not necessarily the protagonist) whose mind is pulled in
conflicting directions by two compelling desires, ambitions, obligations, or
influences. Then, in a well-organized essay, identify each of the two
conflicting forces and explain how this conflict with one character
illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole.

AlbertCamuswrote,Unlesswechoosetoignorereality,wemustfindourvaluesinit.Whatvalues
doesJoyceadoptinDubliners?

o In the opening story of Dubliners, the narrator says, Every night

as I gazed up at the window I said softly to myself the word
paralysis. It had always sounded strangely in my ears, like the
word gnomon in the Euclid and the word simony in the Catechism.
But now it sounded to me like the name of some maleficent and
sinful being. It filled me with fear, and yet I longed to be nearer to
it and to look upon its deadly work (Joyce 9).
Apply the definition of paralysis to two stories from Dubliners.
o Trace Joyces depiction of Dublin through two stories. Discuss how the characters,
their relationships, politics, motivation and addictions add up to a portrait of a city.
o Compare the elements of paralysis and the epiphanies in two stories.
o Compare characters in two stories. Joyce attempted to paint characters with
scrupulous meanness. Discuss how he balances realistic objectivity and
sympathetic understanding.
o Select two stories; explain how they apply to the stage of life -- childhood, adolescence,
maturity and public lifethat Joyce created. (Connect the thematic message to the stage
of life).