Saturday, November 15, 2014

How can we differentiate between two points of view in Eveline? What is the purpose of having two points of view?

"Eveline" by James Joyce is told from a third person point of view:


She had consented to go away, to leave her home. Was that wise? She tried to weigh each side of the question. In her home anyway she had shelter and food; she had those whom she had known all her life about her.


However, this is not the standard third person point of view. Joyce does not merely report the events....

"Eveline" by James Joyce is told from a third person point of view:



She had consented to go away, to leave her home. Was that wise? She tried to weigh each side of the question. In her home anyway she had shelter and food; she had those whom she had known all her life about her.



However, this is not the standard third person point of view. Joyce does not merely report the events. He enters the mind of the protagonist, Eveline, and reports to us her thoughts, feelings, fears, doubts, desires, etc. Although Eveline is not the one who reports anything that happens, Joyce does that by using vocabulary which is appropriate for both Eveline's age and her situation. He attempts to report what Eveline goes through as if he were her.


This point of view enables the author to bring the main character closer to readers, so that they can identify with Eveline's struggle and sympathize with her more easily. The fact that we find ourselves in the middle of Eveline's dilemma (whether she should stay in her stifling Dublin home or escape towards the unknown) helps us visualize her struggle more effectively. As a result, we experience a lot of emotions, such as fear, tension and disappointment.


By this type of narration, the author does not merely tell us what happens in Eveline's mind. On the contrary, he shows us what goes through her mind, and makes her dilemma as realistic as possible.

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