The Boarding House, By James Joyce (1914) - Paralysis

The Boarding House, By James Joyce (1914)


Rating: 8/10



In The Boarding House, we can say that Polly symbolizes a woman who is not independent. Polly's return to her mother's boarding house after working as a pie piste meant that she had failed in her attempt to become independent from her mother, who had a strong desire to dominate. Also, her marriage to Doran shows that Polly does not have any freedom. Mrs. Mooney uses her young daughter Polly to lure in her young boarders which shows her corrupted aspect. Doran fears that if he doesn't marry Polly, his reputation will suffer and he will lose his job, so he eventually marries Polly. Polly, Mrs. Mooney, and Mr. Doran all symbolize people who are paralyzed for some reason. They are all paralyzed and choose an unfortunate future.


All of James Joyce's works have a common theme: 'paralysis'. Eveline's failure to choose a new future with Frank and her return to her family in Eveline can also be interpreted as paralyzed in a way. All of this can be seen as highlighting the paralyzed negative aspects of Joyce's homeland Ireland and Irish Catholicism. (183 words)

댓글

댓글 쓰기

이 블로그의 인기 게시물

Gooseberries, By Anton Chekhov (1898) - Happiness and the Goal of the Life

이미지
Gooseberries, By Anton Chekhov (1898) Rating: 8/10 In  Gooseberries , Ivan talks about happiness through his brother Nikolai’s story. I always have thought that the goal of our life is happiness. I thought that things like money, honor, and love can be small goals in life but they are just meant to reach happiness and the final goal is to be happy. However, Ivan says that happiness does not exist and when we become happy, the meaning and the goal of life disappear. Ivan’s view was chaos to me. If happiness does not exist, what do we live for? Is happiness really just satisfaction? Is happiness really just being buried in the present situation? Then do we need to attempt something constantly and never be satisfied with something? Chekhov’s short stories always make the readers think deeply about life.  The Lady with the Dog  made me think about true love and adultery, and  Gooseberries  made me think about happiness and the goal of our life. I do not know the clear answer to those quest
자세한 내용 보기

Araby, By James Joyce (1914) - Freud’s Psychoanalysis and the Hero’s Journey

Araby, By James Joyce (1914) Rating: 9/10 Araby  is one of my favorite short stories I’ve read. I first read this story in the British Literature class with Mrs. Jeong. At that time, I was very interested in Psychology, so I read  Araby  focusing on the psychological description of the boy. I also did a presentation about it analyzing the boy’s thoughts and behaviors from the point of Freud’s psychoanalysis. For example, the boy’s burning heart for Mangan’s sister is based on his id, his plan to go to the bazaar and make the girl fall in love with him can be his ego, and his behavior keeping the minimum obligation like doing the school work even though he sees nothing because of love can be his superego. These three elements contribute to the anguish the boy feels at the end, which is an epiphany. Preparing the presentation, I read  Araby  many times, but I felt new when I read it again in the World Literature class. I didn’t know that  Araby  has a sexual part in it, so I was surprise
자세한 내용 보기