Thursday, December 2, 2010
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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
What a pleasant change, from Silko to Joyce...
ReplyDeleteThe 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.
The beginning to Dubliners with the rather misleading title, "Sisters," and the use of death in what is supposed to be an airy, innocent stage of life, indicates to me that this will be a story full of irony and contradiction.
ReplyDeleteThe strong relationship between the priest and the narrator, presumably a young boy, illustrates the significant role religion, I think, will play in Dubliners. Moreover, I think that because Father Flynn, the dying priest, was a paralytic, Joyce is trying to say that both Ireland (specifically Dublin) and Catholicism, which are heavily interwoven, are paralytic - or stagnant. Perhaps Joyce is commenting on the lack of change/progress in both those institutions, and there is need to make alterations.
In addition, the whole mood of this anecdote is dark and eerie. The descriptions of Flynn's corpse are disturbing, as is the laughter and eating by the sisters at the end of the section, which contrasts in mood with the event that has taken place: one of loss.
This should prove to be book that piques our interest.
The comments so far have hit some really good points about the underlying meaning of Sisters (although I'm still a little confused as to why Joyce names this section Sisters when the two sisters only show up for the first time at the very end of the section). I especially like what Austin said about religion. I think it is important to notice that as a young child, James' best friend was the Priest - indicating a close connection with the church very early on in his childhood - and that it is the Priest's death that Joyce opens the text with - maybe indicating that religion will not be so important in his life anymore. As Ms. Siegel said in class, religion played a major role in James Joyce's childhood and as he grew older, he believed religion to be less about going to mass and more about a personal relationship with it. It's definitely interesting to note this parallel between James, the protagonist, and James, the author.. but are we sure that James, the protagonist, is James the author? (Ms. Siegel did say that Dubliners is fiction..)
ReplyDeleteI'm going out on a limb for this next reason as to why Joyce begins the novel with the Priest's death. It makes sense in my head, so hopefully it'll make sense here... I think Joyce is trying to say that when one life ends, another life begins (kind of like when one door closes, another one opens). So, Joyce starts with the Priest's death to sort of say to readers, "ok, now that the Priest is dead, James' childhood can really kick off and I can tell the full story." In other words, Joyce is saying that it is necessary for one thing to end, in order for another to completely begin. Also, since we know that Joyce's whole purpose in writing Dubliners is to address the psychological development of the human mind, maybe this means Joyce is trying to stress the importance of the never-ending cycle of the human condition?
I agree with Austins sentiments regarding the title of The Sisters. I feel as if this issue will be clarified in further readings. The content on the other hand did fall in line with James' separation of the novel into sections with this one being birth. In a way, birth is the beginning of an end just as Reverend Flynn began deteriorating slowly, and then eventually progressing. Life is like that, it is short t the beginning with crawling and first steps but eventually it becomes fast paced and possible even too fast to deal with. The ending also really resonated with me. One sister found it strange that Reverend Flynn was by himself and laughing. however I personally believe the point of life should be to do just that. I guess it speaks to the nature of humanity's obsession with companionship and communication, but in reality the most enlightening moments in life are those that happen with ones self.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I noticed that the church seems to be more important to Joyce for non-religious reasons than for religious ones. Clearly this Priest in particular was a mentor and father-figure to him, however he does not seem to focus on what he learned in a spiritual sense from the Priest and rather appreciates the Priest for other reasons that Austin mentioned such as "languages, history, and problem-solving skills."
ReplyDeleteIn addition, as someone mentioned in class, I believe the gold imagery that presents itself frequently probably has a very significant purpose. Like the white peacock (or something like that), this message is repeated so many times that Joyce seems to be hitting us over the head with it. My guess is that it relates to the holiness and prestige of the church or in particular, the Priest?
Lastly, I found the ending to be very creepy. The mysterious death of the Priest is only made more mysterious when we learn that he was found laughing alone in a confessional at some point before his death. I assume we will learn more about the death of the Priest and eventually uncover more about him, but did anyone else find this somewhat disturbing?
I really agreed with many of the observations already pointed out; Hannah and Austin's comments about the less spiritual aspects of the church being important to James, the mysterious death at the end, and the overall dark and eerie mood of the chapter. As to why Joyce actually chose to start Dubliners with this passage, I have not entirely come up with an answer. Although poetic, Danielle's proposal seems like it might be a bit of a stretch and I find myself leaning more towards the idea that loss marks a significant point in a child's life. Since this section is intended to represent childhood, a major landmark that shatters the innocence of childhood seems like a dark, but reasonable place to begin.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I thought it was strange that the sisters did not appear in the passage until almost the end. And at that point, they did not act much at all like sisters. Except for crying, they were not intimate or comforting the way I would expect family members to act towards each other in a time of mourning and great loss. They were very proper, tip toeing around each other to be polite and formal. This made me think of Demetra's comment in class that maybe they are not sisters like same parents, biology sisters, but more like nuns. This would explain their deep connection and devotion to the father, and why they had so much to do with his life and funeral preparations. If they are not nun "sisters" then I would question why they were so closely connected to the church and what James' connection to the father was, other than mentor. I am sure not all children were that close to the priest at the time, so there must have been a reason for him to have that tie to the church.
Yeah, that this was just a very creepy short story. Expanding on what Russell said, it is very noticeable that the emotional reaction from the child narrator is very limited, which is strange because the priest was such a major presence in his life. Aside from being annoyed at his relatives for speaking ignorantly about the priest, there is no other description of the boy's feelings toward Rev. Flynn's death.
ReplyDeleteHis ambiguous death is also creepy, and suggests possibly a break-down in the priest's own vision of the church and his role in the church.
the fact that the priest seems to go crazy in the end of his life ("it was that chalice he broke... that was the beginning of it" (17)) might suggest that joyce found the church to have an out-of-control impact on dublin during his lifetime. we know that dublin was traditional, catholic, and stagnant, so maybe this story is trying to show us that as the narrator starts to come of age, he also starts to realize how increasingly crazy the church seems to be, and how this could be responsible for dublin's paralysis. like the others said, maybe this will make him less interested in faith after this point.
ReplyDeleteit might also be relevant that the sisters tell this compelling/freaky story to the narrator, as they help him realize that "there was something gone wrong" (18) with the priest. because they help him shed light on this possibly-pivotal event in the narrator's childhood, this might be why they have the section named after them.
I actually think that "The Sisters" is an appropriate name for the title. A lot of people in the previous posts have mentioned that they don't understand why it would be the title of the story if they serve such an insignificant role. However, I think that the story they share with James is part of the reason he develops a different relationship with religion (along with just the plain fact that the priest died). Similar to what Emily said, the image the sisters leave James with-"wide awake and laughing-like to himself" (18) perhaps taints James' image of the church and what is holy.
ReplyDeletehellooooo. i really like everybody's ideas. first of all the whole laughing thing is so creepy to me. second i'd sort of like to touch on part of what dani said. i think a really interesting reason to start with death would be to allow for a new beginning. also, to tie that into the whole ireland thing, Joyce may be saying the death of the paralytic/the paralysis of ireland is necessary in order for a new beginning in the story/new beginning for ireland.
ReplyDeleteI think that this story relates to Joyce's view that the church is one cause of the paralysis in ireland, and that with the death of the father, society can sort of move on. Also, I found the section to be very ambiguous, especially in the details of the death of the father and also with the dream that the boy has where he cannot remember the end. I feel like the ambiguity creates a really dim outlook on the what Joyce sees for the future of Ireland, and I think that he is commenting on how he is unsure that it will be able to get out of the stagnant position it is in.
ReplyDeletei noticed in Joyce's biography that Parnell's death had an effect on Joyce. dunno the correlation between that and anything other than that Parnell could have been the dead priest
ReplyDeleteI found parts of this chapter to be really eird. The idea of the priest going crazy right before he died, awake and laughing to himself in the confession box was creepy and unsettling. Also, I thought it was strange how James didn't seem very effected by the priest's death. If they were as close as the other characters implied, I feel like he should have reacted more to the priest's passing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sarah's point that the novel probably starts off with a death to mark a significant change in James's life. We said in class that the purpose of Dubliners was to show the progression of human development. With the death of the priest, James can be reborn and begin his growth as a character.
there has been alot said already(good job ap lit team) but one thing i'd like to add is that maybe joyce is trying to tell us abut death by involving it so early in the story. He may be saying death is not scary and is part of life no matter how old you are, or just saying the latter, and by putting it in the beginning of the collection, he emphasizes that the most.
ReplyDeleteSolid points. I agree that Father Flynn's death might signal some sort of rebirth for the boy, or that life and death are cyclic. The boy has a "sensation of freedom as if I had been freed from something by his death". Father Flynn, I think, was preparing the boy to become ordained, but there was a clear disconnect between practices of the Church and the boy. The boy regarded the mysteries of the Church as the "simplest acts" and the duties of a priest "so grave to me that I wondered how anybody had ever found in himself the courage to undertake them." So Rev. Flynn's death is liberating for the boy, a new start on life. I also think that the chalice that Rev. Flynn broke because of his stroke/paralysis is significant. I may be reading too much into this, but chalices are pretty significant because they hold the Eucharist, the blood of Christ, the core of Catholicism. So perhaps Joyce is suggesting that the Catholic Church and its rituals have an unhealthy paralyzing and even fatal effect on Ireland.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the people above me. To add, I think Joyce is starting with a death scene (as opposed to TiMo, who started with a birth scene, and ended with a death scene), because he wasnts to point out the universality of death. We learned in class that Joyce really knew about the human condition, so it makes sense that he can speak about one of the most fundamental aspects, death, really well. Death, especially of important people in people's lives, has a really universal impact on people, so maybe Joyce was trying to start the novel with something really fundamental?
ReplyDeleteAs for why it's called Sisters, I really like Emily's point about how sisters tell this story to the narrator. So maybe the chapters are named after the different perspectives? Joyce wanted to write about Ireland, which is made up if of many peoples and perspectives, so to be accurate, he had to reference them. Also, the perspective from the church (sisters) comes first, possibly because the church's perspective on anything came first in Ireland at that time.