Gabriel decides it is time to leave Ireland and journey westward. James Joyce critiques Ireland as a place unwilling to change and one that revels in corruption, hoping his stories capture this odor. Better to pass into another world in the full passion of life than to fade away in Ireland.

3. “From time to time I see publishers’ lists in
announcements of books on Irish subjects,
so that I think people will be people might
be willing to pay for the special odour of
corruption which, I hope, floats over my
stories”
-James Joyce

8. “Better pass boldly into that other
world, in the full glory of some
passion, then fade and wither
dismally with age”
-Gabriel

9. “The time had come for him to set out
on his journey westward”

10. James Joyce chooses to critique his
homeland as a place that will never
change. In the end, Gabriel chooses
leaving his homeland to demonstrate
Joyce’s loss of hope for Ireland.