Longing to Escape Essays -- Essays Papers

Longing to Escape When adversity stares people in the face, do they run away from it, or do they have the willpower to fight it head on? James Joyce, the author of Dubliners, at the young age of twenty-three, was able to take note of the struggles and hardships of the Irish people at a time when their once prosperous Dublin city was in retrograde. He took all the emotions and angers that his people had during this period in time, and summed it up into fifteen short stories. Throughout these stories Joyce places his characters into situations that leave them in constant states of dishevelment and agony. Some characters run away from and are left defeated by these situations and responsibilities, while other characters are depicted as being strong and confront and handle their crises. â€Å"The Boarding House† and â€Å"The Dead† are two stories in particular, where the characters find themselves longing to escape not only from Dublin society, but also from the obligations that they have in Dublin. Joyce uses the idea of marriage as a tug-of-war between escape and responsibility. In â€Å"The Boarding House,† Mr. Doran, a man of around thirty-five years old finds himself in a conflict over deciding what he should do about the ultimatum from Mrs. Mooney about the affair he has with Polly. He knew â€Å"the harm was done,† but â€Å"what could he do now but marry her or run away?† (61) Mr. Doran’s wild, irresponsible ways with women, that he tries to escape as a youth is resurfacing in his older days. Joyce uses this irresponsible act of Mr. Doran to help Mrs. Mooney lure him into her daughter’s marriage trap. He knows he is only part of the blame for this occurrence and â€Å"had a notion he was being had† (6... ...ng house to end the obligation he has of marrying Polly. No matter where a person lives or who that person may be; whether certain fictional characters of â€Å"The Dead,† and â€Å"The Boarding House,† or real life people, everybody at some point in their lives want to break loose from the duties that are holding them down. Works Cited Joyce, James. â€Å"The Boarding House.† Dubliners. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. 56-64. Kelly, Joseph. â€Å"Joyce’s Marriage Cycle.† Studies in Short Fiction 32.3 (1995): 374. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. University of Dayton. Roesch Library. 24 Feb. 2004. http://www.epnet.com Paige, Linda Rohrer. â€Å"James Joyce’s Colored Portraits of a ‘Mother’ in Dubliners.† Studies in Short Fiction 32.3 (1995): 335. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. University of Dayton. Roesch Library. 24 Feb. 2004. http://www.epnet.com.