The Call of the Orient for Joyce’s Dubliners
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published 07/08/2007
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SummaryWhen the body is unable to physically escape from the familiar, the mind will journey to the land of the “other,” the unknown that promises relief from everyday, prosaic existence. For the captives of Dublin in Joyce’s Dubliners, the paralyzing effects of the city cause their thoughts and dreams to wander to the East, the exotic region of which they can only fantasize. The Orient embodies the romantic and mystical that is seemingly absent from their lives in dear dirty Dublin. The young narrator of “The Sisters” longs for these exciting ideals in an attempt to escape his boring, philistine family living in fear of the almighty Catholic Church. In “A Little Cloud,” it is Little Chandler, a lowly clerk with poetic ambitions, who dreams of the Orient as an exotic alternative to the dreary, inescapable life Dublin has dealt him. Both Little Chandler and the narrator of “The Sisters” gain access to the mysteries of the East through superior, knowledgeable figures whom they regard with awe. However, both Dubliners ultimately become disillusioned with the powers of the Orient when their Eastern dreams are betrayed by the reality of their lives.
Table of Contents
- The Dublin of both 'The Sisters' and 'A Little Cloud' is a dull, hopeless place
- The hopelessness of the city shared by Little Chandler and the boy lead them to seek the company of figures who possess knowledge and experience of the world east of Dublin
- The hopelessness of the city shared by Little Chandler and the boy lead them to seek the company of figures who possess knowledge and experience of the world east of Dublin
- Little Chandler's vicarious trip around the world turns sour as Gallaher's description of the staleness of marriage causes Chandler to feel more disappointed with his life than usual
- In 'The Sisters' and 'A Little Cloud,' Joyce presents two seemingly different protagonists who share a similar burden, a cumbersome family weighing down their lives in Dublin
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