The End of the Dead

The Ending of the Dead:

It feels, perhaps, like we have been talking about this forever-, which is at once frustrating and fascinating. A large part of Joyce’s beauty, true beauty is in the universality of that message and in the way in which he renders it. It is so universal, say, that at alternate times in ones’ life, the language, the ending, the story, holds a different meaning. A choose your own adventure for the heavy-duty literary types, or as Foucault said, Headed toward death, language turns back upon itself; it encounters something like a mirror; and to stop this death which would stop it, it possesses but a single power: that of giving birth to its own image in a play of mirrors that has no limits, "Language to Infinity But as we Millburnites are a group wholly uncomfortable with ambiguity and lack of control, I can only offer these two interpretations as in reference to the commonly asked What does it mean?
It could stand as a negative reading- meaning that in this moment of self-actualization, Gabriel chooses to sacrifice his sense of self- to be more like Michael Furey, leading to his ultimate paralysis. Some readers are skeptical of the sincerity of the moment, wondering exactly how “generous” his tears actually are, critiquing his bitterness at Gretta’s appearance. They further this reading by stating that “swoon” here relates to the unconsciousness of death, and mark the ending as depressing.
But then there are readers like me, who read The Dead and get tears in their eyes, who staunchly defend the final paragraphs as some of the most beautiful in all of literature, who feel the ending with every last fiber of their beings. Because, to us, the end of The Dead is transcendent. Because in that moment of realization and self-actualization, of heightened awareness and simply being, Gabriel puts the world into perfectly placed perspective. We are all part of this human condition. We will all experience love and loss and failure. We will all know disappointment and joy. We will all be uncertain and sometimes frightened, or even plainly scared. And in knowing this, in channeling this feeling of connection, there is, even in the bleakest of hours, hope.
And hope inspires. It inspires actions and ideas, gestures and feelings. Life is a remarkable reckless wonder. And that’s enough to make this reader swoon.

So let’s say goodbye to James Joyce and hello to Holiday break. I’ll miss you but I hope you each have a wonderful time! Relax and enjoy!
And get excited for axe murderers and Siberian prisons, prostitutes with hearts of gold and gritty hot St. Petersburg! Crime and Punishment is next!

Lily, the caretaker's daughter, was literally run off her feet...

What does the opening of this story mean? I'm not trying to completely cop out of answering the question, but I don't think that the line "Lily, the caretaker's daughter, was literally run off her feet" has much hidden meaning. One of the key words in the sentence is "literally," and I think we are to interpret the sentence literally as it is written. Lily is breathless and ragged from running up and down the stairs in order to set things up for the big event. I think that Joyce uses Lily merely to set the scene, and he employs this line to show a hectic beginning to the evening.

I have a feeling that this won't be such a popular opinion, since it's not based on a real deep reading of the text, but while it's tempting to tie this in to some larger theme of life being entirely overwhelming, I really don't think Joyce intended for this line to mean much more than the literal words on the page.

Clay & A Painful Case

I really didn't want to post first, but here goes...

Both of these stories seemed to deal, at least on very basic levels, with sexuality. We see Maria (who has a name like [the virgin] Mary - a possible religious reference?) innocently avoiding intimacy, which is clear when she forgets what the back of the book calls "the more poignant second verse" of her song, one that discusses knightly suitors.

I also noticed that there was very little dialogue in this section. Not sure what that means though. Thoughts?

I liked A Painful Case a lot better. Mr Duffy is a really compelling character, which is evident from the first few pages, when he is described as having "an odd autobiographical habit" that leads him to narrate his life's events in third person. His relation to the theme of sexuality is shown when he goes on walks with (married!) Mrs. Sinico, but then ends his relationship (a word used loosely, I guess) with her after she touches his hand to her face. Once he reads about Mrs. Sinico's death, he begins to realize his role in it, and he feels bad that his rejection of her led her to become a drunk. I think that his own epiphany comes once he realizes that the woman is only a memory to him, and acknowledges that because of his self-imposed loneliness, he doesn't think he'll ever even be that, a memory, for anyone else.

These stories continue to be depressing accounts of real life in Dublin. The characters in them, however, are more mature, but this doesn't make them any less prone to feeling alone yet suffocated in Dublin.

Just to clarify...

The kunstleroman was Portrait of the Artist- NOT DUBLINERS... Dubliners is a work of fiction... I just wanted to eliminate confusion.

Wide-awake and laughing-like to himself...

What a pleasant change, from Silko to Joyce...

The Sisters is quite a fascinating way to begin Dubliners. We learned today that the novel (or collection) is the progression of James Joyce's life, a Künstlerroman; but why start with the funeral of a Priest?

There are many images of the fall of the church. Obviously we have the death of the Priest; we have the broken cross, the faded vestments, and the curious confession. Joyce tells us that the Priest had a great impact on his life; he taught him languages, history, and problem-solving skills, in addition to mentoring him with other aspects of life. From this we can imply that the church, through the Priest, was likely to have had an effect on Joyce as a child.

But when the Priest, and thus the church, dies, is Joyce trying to tell us that it will no longer occupy a significant place in his life? We know that there will clearly be a great shift in his life, since he emphasizes the effect the Priest had on him, but how will this change materialize?

And then there's the title...isn't it strange how Joyce titles this story with the characters who don't show up until the very last pages of the story? Perhaps it has something to do with how they place the blame of the Priest's broken cross on James...maybe they will be a continual source of blame for James.

Scholes mentions the roles of counterparts in his criticism found in our edition's appendix...maybe Joyce is introducing us to the character counterparts...

The bottom line is that it's a rather peculiar way to start off, but, like most other novels we've read, it is sure to embody great latent significance.

Dubliners: Sisters

In class we were asked to finish reading sisters and then post a blog about what's going on within the first story Sisters. When we begin to read the novel, we the readers are already informed of its structure: Mainly that Dubliners will contain a set of short stories that begin with childhood, then continue through other pivotal points in life, and conclude with death. Seems quite simple enough. However, in this first story, death occurs. Not just the random death of a person in a town but the death of a man who is close to the main character of the novel. It is through the death of Mr. Cotter that James Joyce characterizes this first section as the childhood portion of his "novel". Although unnoticed at first there are many aspects of this section that bring about thoughts of, or directly relate to childhood. The first one is when the adults were discussing how the young child should play with children of his own age. This is what they would consider a normal childhood. The child however, would rather spend his time with the Priest. Another important, although obscure reference to childhood is loss. I think that each persons childhood is marked by, or impacted by, a death or loss of some sort. Whether it be a grandparent, close friend, or pet, loss occurs within childhood. Furthermore, I think James Joyce may be commenting on the fact that childhood is characterized by its downfall, or loss of innocence. Although we are not shown the exact emotional reaction to this mans death, it is likely that it would be a traumatic experience for a child--even if the man went as peacefully as Mr. Cotter was described in his death. In addition i believe the last sentences have a lot to do with childhood or children. Despite the fact that i might be going out on a limb here ill go with it. When he Mr. Cotter is described laughing in a room alone in the dark it is perceived by most adults that something is wrong with him, that he must be crazy or something. For a child, however, laughter is purely laughter, which means things like happiness and not craziness. As a result it think the fact that we are shown the adults perspective on the laughter before his death is important because it is different than a child's perspective would be. Also in class we talked a little bit about why it is called Sisters, although im not entirely sure i think this could have to do with the sisters who were taking care of Mr. Cotter, and the conversation of the women at the end of the section.