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.