The document summarizes several short stories from James Joyce's Dubliners collection. It provides plot summaries and highlights key elements like epiphanies, paralysis, and tone for each story. These include themes of being trapped in stagnant lives and societies in Ireland and characters who are paralyzed and unable to escape their circumstances.

1. Dubliners James Joyce

2. THE SISTERS Characters Nameless Narrator: 6 year old boy Father Flynn Old Cotter Plot: An old priest dies, who was a friend of the young narrator. The boy feels relieved by the death of this mad man.

3. THE SISTERS (Cont’d) Epiphany: The boy notices the possible evils of the Church and begins to understand that he cannot trust everyone and everything anymore. “I pretended to pray but I could not gather my thoughts because the old woman’s mutterings distracted me.” “The fancy came to me that the old man was smiling as he lay there in his coffin. But no... he was not smiling.”

4. THE SISTERS (Cont’d) Paralysis Father Flynn’s 3 Strokes Narrator: “ I said softly to myself the word paralysis... it sounded to me like the name of some maleficent and sinful being. It filled me with fear and yet I longed to be nearer to it and to look upon its deadly work.” Is Father Flynn, the paralyzed one, the “malificent and sinful being”?

5. AN ENCOUNTER

6. AN ENCOUNTER (Cont’d)

7. ARABY Characters Nameless Narrator: 13/14 year old boy Mangan’s older sister Uncle Plot: Narrator goes to a bazaar to buy a present for his friend’s older sister, but comes home with nothing.

8. ARABY (Cont’d) Epiphany: Narrator cannot be an adult yet. Paralysis: Narrator is stuck in adolescence. "I had hardly any patience with the serious work of life which, now that it stood between me and my desire, seemed to me child's play, ugly monotonous child's play"

9. ARABY (Cont’d) Tone: negative/pessimistic. Joyce reflects on how Irish life makes it impossible to escape the dull, monotonous life of an adolescent. "The air was pitilessly raw and my heart misgave me." Symbols: Girl represents unattainable change in life. She also represents how women are also trapped in Irish society.

10. EVELINE

11. EVELINE

12. AFTER THE RACE

13. AFTER THE RACE

14. TWO GALLANTS Characters Corley Lenehan The maid Plot: Two men are looking to find money in Dublin. They cannot find it for themselves, so Corley resorts to making a woman believe that he is in love with her and asking her to steal from the house that she cleans. Lenehan, his friend, is almost as guilty as Corley even though he plays a passive role.

15. TWO GALLANTS (Cont’d) Paralysis: Lenehan suffers paralysis. He does nothing but watch his scheming friend advance in life. Epiphany: “He was tired of knocking about, of pulling the devil by the tail, of shifts and intrigues. He would be thirty-one in November. How he never get a good job? Would he never have a home of his own? … Experience had embittered his heart against the world.”

16. THE BOARDING HOUSE Characters: Polly Mrs. Mooney Mr. Doran Plot: Mrs. Mooney’s daughter, Polly, secretly sleeps with an older man at a boarding house and must marry him because she is pregnant. Mr. Doran and Polly are both paralyzed and forced into a marriage that he does not want.

17. THE BOARDING HOUSE (Cont’d) Epiphany: Irish institution of marriage is flawed. Paralysis: Mr. Doran is very passive and immobile about his new marriage. “All his long years of service gone for nothing! All his industry and diligence thrown away! As a young man he had sown wild oats, of course; he had boasted of his free-thinking and denied the existence of God to his companions in public-houses.”

18. THE BOARDING HOUSE (Cont’d) Tone: depressing- society is the invisible force that pushes them to marry; passionate “He remembered well her eyes, the touch of her hand and his delirium.... But delirium passes. He echoed her phrase, applying it to himself: ‘ What am I to do? ’”

19. THE BOARDING HOUSE (Cont’d) Symbols: Mr. Doran has trouble shaving. It is not possible for him to go back to his boyhood. He must marry now as a man. “She no longer saw the white pillows on which her gaze was fixed.” -This couple is no longer innocent.

20. A LITTLE CLOUD Characters Chandler Ignatius Gallaher The Baby Plot: Little Chandler, the narrator, walks along the streets of Dublin and drinks with an old friend who speaks of his success. Little Chandler then goes home and thinks about his lack of success with his writing career and fails to console his crying baby.

21. A LITTLE CLOUD (Cont’d) Epiphany: Chandler is stuck in Ireland and cannot pursue his career. Paralysis: Man does not see an chance for upward mobility in his society. Tone: Sympathetic and Melancholy. Joyce sympathizes with Chandler's adversities. “He tried to weigh his soul to see if it was a poet’s soul. Melancholy was the dominant note of his temperament, he thought, but it was a melancholy tempered by recurrences of faith and resignation and simple joy.”

22. A LITTLE CLOUD (Cont’d) Tone: Sympathetic and Melancholy. Joyce sympathizes with Chandler's adversities. Symbols: The baby represents how his obligations restrict his ability to write. “He was not sure what idea he wished to express but the thought that a poetic moment had touched him took his life within him like an infant hope. He stepped onward bravely. Every step brought him nearer to London, farther from his own sober inartistic life.”

23. COUNTERPARTS Characters Farrington Mr. Alleyne Miss Delacour Plot: Farrington, a copyist at a law firm hates his job and is sick of routine. He uses alcohol to escape and one day he insults his boss and “felt savage and thirsty and revengeful, annoyed with himself and with everyone else.”

24. COUNTERPARTS (Cont’d) Paralysis -Farrington is symbolically stuck in one place for so long that it doesn’t even matter that he manages to walk around or get to work every day. Inside he is paralyzed. As one of the other groups said he is a COPYIST.

25. COUNTERPARTS (Cont’d) Paralysis cont’d: -Alcohol- a source of numbness/paralysis. -Little son at the end of the story is paralyzed in fear. “The little boy looked about him wildly but, seeing no way of escape, fell upon his knees.” Epiphany Farrington, who represents the average man in Irish society, realizes how much he hates tradition and repetition.

26. COUNTERPARTS (Cont’d) Tone Pressing at times, Careless at others “The bell rang furiously and...a furious voice called out in a piercing North of Ireland Accent.” “So I just looked at him- cooly, you know, and looked at her. Then I looked back at him again- taking my time, you know. ‘I don’t think that’s a fair question to put to me,’ says I.”

27. COUNTERPARTS (Cont’d) Themes Anger turned inward- rarely released (toward boss, toward boy) Repetition View of Irish Society- excessive drinking, dysfunctional families Symbolism -pawning his watch to buy more alcohol- he wants to get rid of obligations and schedules because he would rather be careless and do what pleases him

28. CLAY Characters Maria Joe Mrs. Donnelly Plot: A 20 year old named Maria goes to Joe's house and sees his family. Maria is a deformed midget whose nose almost touches the tip of her nose. She brings baked goods to the family that she has bought but loses a cake she bought for the parents.

29. CLAY (Cont’d) Epiphany: Christianity is worshipped in the wrong way. Joyce mocks the figure heads of the religion who are normally portrayed as perfect and beautiful instead of ugly and deformed. Mary and Joseph are mocked in this story. “ Maria understood that it was wrong that time and so she had to do it over again: and this time she got the prayer-book.” Suggests that Catholics are worshipping the wrong way.

30. CLAY (Cont’d) Paralysis: Maria is trapped being the sincere handmaid. Many say she is going to get married but in reality everyone knows she will probably stay as a house maid. *Also shows that she should not trust innocent people. It is sad, yet probable, that the colonel on the train who talks sweetly to Maria stole her cake. *Maria is the ideal mother. This describes the female role in Irish society at that time.

31. A PAINFUL CASE

32. IVY DAY IN THE COMMITTEE ROOM Characters: Matt O’Connor Old Jack Charles Parnell Plot: Several men meet in the National Party Commitee room to talk politics and wait for their wage payment. The holiday is to celebrate Parnell, a popular man in politics who passed away. After reading a poem in commemoration of him, the men realize how truly great Parnell was and that they are not the ones who should/could lead Ireland back to a better country.

33. IVY DAY (Cont’d) Epiphany: Joyce reveals that the Irish politics were corrupt and fake. The men celebrating the great life of a political figure head do not even commemorate him until they read a short poem about him for a few minutes. The political greatness of Ireland ended with Parnell. The canvassers in the Committee room talk only about petty politics.

34. IVY DAY (CONT’D) Paralysis: Irish society is stuck with the fake and corrupt politics that it has developed into. There are no more beacons of hope like Parnell, who wasn’t event great. Irony: “We all respect him now that he’s dead and gone.”

35. IVY DAY (Cont’d) Tone Tone: Mocking: Joyce disproves of what the characters are doing. He criticizes how fake they are. After reading the poem the men remark on how great the poem was, not on how great the man was.-"Mr. Crofton said that it was a very fine piece of writing" Dismal: “A denuded room came into view and the fire lost all its cheerful color. The walls of the room were bare...”

36. A MOTHER Characters: Mr. Holohan, Mrs. Kearney , Kathleen, Mr. Fitzpatrick Plot: A young Kathleen Kearney has been asked by Mr. Holohan to perform concerts for the Ireland to Victory Society and promises that they will split the profits. When the concerts do not go well, the mother causes a huge scene and proves that she is far too much involved in her daughter’s life.

37. A MOTHER (Cont’d) Paralysis Kathleen cannot make any decisions for herself because her mother is so overbearing. Kathleen follows the path that her mother laid for her. “She sat amid the chilly circle of her accomplishments, waiting for some suitor to brave it and offer her a brilliant life.”

38. A MOTHER (Cont’d) Epiphany Women must submit to the patriarchal society and take their place in community. Otherwise, they will be humiliated and disgraced. “Miss Kathleen Kearney’s musical career was ended in Dublin after that,” he said.

39. A MOTHER (Cont’d) Tone- silly, rushed, impatient View of Irish Society- Patriarchal Society “They wouldn’t have dared to have treated her like that if she had been a man.” “She respected her husband in the same way she respected the General Post Office, as something large, secure and fixed; and though she knew the small number of his talents she appreciated his abstract value as a male.” (He’s only a bootmaker- the wife and daughter are much more accomplished with their knowledge of French, music, etc.)

40. A mother (Cont’d) The fall of the arts in Ireland “Of course she was sorry for the sake of the artistes . She appealed to the second tenor who thought she had not been well treated.” The arts in Ireland are now supported very strongly by the government. Musicians do not pay taxes and the government will help finance certain projects and films. Themes Role of Women vs. Role of Men

41. A MOTHER (Cont’d) Symbolism Bootmaker- Mr. Kearney is the man who creates shoes that are used to walk all over the land. It would have to be a MAN who has this dominating, destructive role. Mr. O’Madden Burke is always wresting on an umbrella. Umbrellas/parisols are delicate and could symbolize women.

42. GRACE

43. THE DEAD Tone: very critical of all characters' behavior except for Gabriel’s. Paralysis: monontony of Irish life. The Markan family celebrates the same way every year and its members are stuck in repetition of their dull lives. Epiphany: Carpe Diem- “Seize the day.” “Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion than fade and wither dismally with age.” Gabriel becomes jealous of Michael’s ability to live passionately.

44. THE DEAD (Cont’d) Symbols Gabriel: a messenger He was sent to make Gretta realize the value of living a life of passion and vivacity. Michael: the Archangel “Michael the Archangel, defend us in this our day of battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the Devil...” Joyce shows that religion is dead in Ireland because even the protector (Michael Furey /Michael the Archangel) is dead.