James Joyces Dubliners - Book Report/Review Example

Compare Devices Generally, make use of different themes to unleash their literary craftsmanship and share their views with the readers. For instance, Dubliners, the literary work by James Joyce, deals with Irish life, but the inherent theme of the work is that human beings are destined to face a special moment in their lives in which they realize that they cannot give up their journey. Within this scenario, the short stories within the aforementioned literary work, named as Araby and Eveline deal with the theme of development which transforms human life from vegetative growth to self-realization. Thesis statement: The comparison based on the literary analysis on James Joyce’s stories named as Araby and Eveline proves that the author makes use of different literary devices, methods/techniques, and themes (development) to share his unique views on the relationship between vegetative growth and maturity (development) in human life with the readers. Literary analysis Devices: In the short story named as Arabi, the author depends upon personification to help the readers to pay attention on inanimate objects, including the street. For instance, the word ‘smobre’ denotes the silence in the street. The storyteller in the literary work by James Joyce makes clear that, “When we met in the street the houses had grown sombre” (16). Besides, the author makes use of personification to provide human like characteristics to the silent street and the houses. On the other side, the author totally neglects personification in the short story named as Eveline, but makes use of symbolism. To be specific, this short story is comparatively rich in symbolism and religious allusions. For instance, the priest’s image is symbolic of religious allusion, and the female protagonist’s name (say, Eveline) is symbolic of Eve. Besides, the female protagonist’s contemplation on her mother is symbolic of death because her mother is no more. The heroine reveals that, “Another day, when their mother was alive, they had all gone for a picnic to the Hill of Howth” (23). Similarly, imagery and metaphor are widely used in the first short story. For instance, sky is a strong imagery in the short story which denotes the protagonist’s loneliness. Besides, the front part of the houses is described as faces, which is symbolic of the usage of metaphorical language. Similar to the first story, metaphor is a noticeable literary element in the second story. For instance, the phrase ‘bell clanged’ is used as a metaphor which denotes the emotional turmoil faced by the female protagonist. Still, other literary devices like stream of consciousness and flash back are used in the second story. For instance, the second short story is in the form of an interior monologue (narrated by the female protagonist), symbolic of the usage of stream of consciousness. So, one can see that both the shot stories are rich in literary devices, but differs in the usage of the same in different situations. Methods: The author makes use of different literary methods/techniques in both the stories. Besides, both the stories make use of foreshadowing and flash backs as main literary methods/techniques. For instance, the protagonist in the first story tries his level best to attain his goal of love/acceptance, but fails in the end. On the other side, the female protagonist (Eveline) in the second story decides to elope with her lover because her family fails to accept her as an individual. Still, she tires her level best to attain her aim, but fails. But failure helps both the main characters in these different short stories to realize how unexpected events transform human life. Similarly, flashbacks play an important role in both the stories because the same unveils the past lives of the main characters. For instance, flash back reveals the loneliness faced by the protagonist in his uncle’s family. The storyteller makes clear that, “Air, musty from having been long enclosed, hung in all the rooms, and the waste room behind the kitchen was littered with old useless papers” (16). On the other side, the female character’s contemplation on her childhood days reveals her past and relationship with her mother. Similarly, the literary method/technique of repetition is used in both the stories. For instance, the protagonist in the first story convinces himself on his transformation by repeating the word ‘love’. On the other side, the author repeats the word ‘escape’ to point out the female protagonist’s desire to be self-reliant. The storyteller makes clear that, “Escape! She must escape! Frank would save her” (24). So, it is evident that there are similar literary methods/techniques in these short stories. Themes: The main theme of Arabi is the human development from childhood to maturity and sudden realization of the worldly affairs. For instance, the protagonist is portrayed as a young boy who is in love with an elder girl. Gradually, the protagonist knows that he is totally immersed in love towards the girl and he cannot escape from the same. In the end, the protagonist realizes that his love is not based upon mutual understanding because he is not sure about the girl’s attitude towards him. Besides, this helps him to know that this sort of emotional turmoil is temporary and is symbolic of maturity. But in Eveline, the author provides ample importance to the female protagonist’s development from indecisiveness to self-reliance. For instance, the female protagonist considers her love affair as an escapade from her family. But in the end, she realizes that her indecisive attitude hindered her from taking firm decisions in her life. So, she decides to desert her lover and returns to her private circle. So, both the short stories deal with the same theme (say, development), but makes used of the same in different ways. Summing, the comparison proves that the author intentionally made use of certain literary devices, methods, and theme to unleash his literary creativity. To be specific, the author depends upon different literary devices to pinpoint the importance of epiphany in human life. Still, the author does not neglect the scope of literary methods/techniques because the same help the readers to have deeper understanding of the literary work as a whole. On the other side, the author exploits the scope of similar themes within both the short stories because the whole work is related to the scope of unexpectedness in human life. In short, Araby and Eveline are not different from other short stories in Dubliners, because both the short stories are symbolic of human urge to attain maturity (say, development). Works Cited Joyce, James. Dubliners. N.p.: Cricket House Books LLC, 2010. Print. Read More