Group 1: An overview of James Joyce's 'Eveline'

Title: Eveline
Author: James Joyce
Year of Publication: 1917



Setting:

The story takes place in Dublin. Eveline starts the story recollecting her time in the neighborhood with nostalgia. Every little detail of her surroundings - and of her house - is now extra meaningful to her given that she is about to elope the city with her sweetheart Frank.

Characters: 

• Main Characters: 

             Eveline Hill: She is the main character of the story. She works hard to make ends meet, but her father is very abusive and forces to give him all the money she makes. She lives a miserable life and hopes she will see a change in her life soon.

             Frank: He is the sailor for whom Eveline falls in love and may be her passport to a new life.

•  Secondary characters

            Ernest: He is Eveline's brother, who died as an infant. 

            Tizzie Dunn: She is Eveline's mother, who died when Eveline was a child. Eveline has promised she would keep the house together. 

            Harry: He is the Eveline's brother who works with the ornaments of the church. Due to his line of work, he is constantly away from his family, but helps them financially the best he can.

            Eveline's father: During Eveline's childhood he was a good man, but after Eveline's mother died, he started being abusive to her, which is one of the reasons why she wants her life to change. 

Plot Summary:

'Eveline' tells us the story of Eveline Hill, a 19-year-old woman whose life has become restricted to a job she does not enjoy as a store clerk and to household duties towards her drunk father and young siblings that curb her existence as an individual human being.

Struggling to find happiness, she plans to flee with her sweetheart Frank, who is a well-traveled sailor, to Buenos Aires. She imagines that away from Dubin (which she thinks of as a socially oppressive place), married, she will finally experience happiness, love and respect. However, Eveline starts second guessing herself after she recollects the promise she made to her mother alongside her mother's death scene.

As a result, when she is about to board the ship, she is suddenly paralyzed by fear of the unknown and remains on land, unable to make a move. As Frank insists on her joining him on the ship, "She set her white pale face to him, passive, like a helpless animal. Her eyes gave him no sign of love or farewell or recognition." (D 40-41). As her mother before her, she cannot escape from Dublin merciless paralysis.


Symbols: 

The symbols are 'the window' and 'the sea': they both represent a transition in Eveline's life.

The window represents the transition between her past and her present. She sat at the window watching the evening and the people walking down the street, She thinks about the changes that have occured in her life. The childhood that she and her siblings had when their mother was still alive.

The ship represents the transition between her present and her future. When she is in the harbor and sees the sea, she ponders over the possibilities that the future may bring to her, It is the fear of the unknown versus the comodity of sticking to what is well-known, bearable even with its hardships.

Epiphanies: 

There are two epiphanies in this short story:

The first one occurs when she hears the sound of an organ. She recollects her life when her mother was still alive, her relationship with her family and the promise she made to her mother, but it also reminded her of the difficult live she is having. In horror, she decides she needs to change her life, run away so as to have a happy life.

The second epiphany occurs when she's in the North Wall of the harbor and sees the sea. In this moment, she reflects upon the changes that may occur in her life whether she decides to go with Frank on the trip. The ship seems to be the promise of a new life of hope. On the other hand, wht may happen is still unknown. Faced with this excruciating dilemma, she gets scared and decides to stay with the safest option.