James Joyce's "Eveline" is a compelling and strange story that offers little explanation for its own ending. Throughout most of the story, we sift through a description of Eveline's dull and miserable life, and it seems clear that she wants to escape from the tyranny of her home. It is strange, therefore, that Eveline does not go with Frank to Buenos Aires when he tries to take her with him at the end.
Many readers...
James Joyce's "Eveline" is a compelling and strange story that offers little explanation for its own ending. Throughout most of the story, we sift through a description of Eveline's dull and miserable life, and it seems clear that she wants to escape from the tyranny of her home. It is strange, therefore, that Eveline does not go with Frank to Buenos Aires when he tries to take her with him at the end.
Many readers interpret this ending as an illustration of Eveline's imprisonment in the past, and much of the story supports this idea. Most of the narrative dwells on the young woman's past life, for instance, and there's little indication that Eveline has much of a future. As such, it's very possible that Eveline is simply incapable of leaving her home, no matter how much she dreams of a future far away from her misery. She may dream big, but, in the end, she's incapable of real action.
This idea makes sense when considered in the broader context of Dubliners. In most of the stories, Joyce focuses on characters who are "stuck," who have gotten locked into an unfulfilling life and cannot escape. As such, it makes sense that Eveline cannot leave Dublin; like the other characters in Joyce's stories, she is trapped by a kind of figurative paralysis, and is doomed to a life of unhappiness and stagnation.
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