Analyses of the Life of Eveline from James Joyce - Essay Example

English Research Paper: Argumentative Essay Final Draft Eveline By: James Joyce Thesis This essay analyses the life of a young Dublin woman who is faced with a hard decision of leaving her abusive father and beginning a new life with her lover based on the book Eveline by James Joyce. The essay talk about general cultural life of the Dubliners through the life of one character by the Name Eveline and how she is met with a lifetime decision of staying with her abusive father so as to maintain the good name of a good daughter or leave with her lover in pursuit of happiness. In the essay we find Eliza struggling with her thoughts and fears. The essay thus try’s to argue against the decision to leave her father and provide reasons as to why staying with her father will be the best thing to do (Ochsenfahrt, 2010). Argument on Eveline’s fate The book Eveline by James Joyce (Joyce, 2012) is a very fascinating piece of literature by the way it summarizes the life one person in the book. The first paragraphs of the book are meant to introduce this character Eveline who takes us through an adventure that is filled with a lot of vagueness and short descriptive details. The way we read the character as she stares so much into the properties of other people immediately tells us that the character has a feeling of nostalgia and is not ready to leave the town with her lover. (Joyce, 2012). However, this is the common life of people living in the Dublin also known as the Dubliners. Eveline seems to be portrayed in the book as the best example of this kind of life. This is expressed through the way the writer describes her senses that include the smell, sights and sounds which are forced on the reader by the James Joyce in his own unique style and the way to achieve the effect of moving the writer from one image of Eveline to the other (Ochsenfahrt, 2010). This is a challenge that Eveline is faced with as we find her looking through the window recalling the good old childhood days. Eveline remembers these days as those that made her feel free and would happily play on the playground and the field with fellow children. However, the field is now developed with new homes. As she rethinks her childhood, she is also meant to remember the other worse side of her childhood that was inflicted by her ever abusive father with whom she lives (Joyce, 2012). This makes her struggle so hard to free herself from this form of tormentation. Eveline also has to struggle hard and change jobs in order to support herself and her father. For this reason, she meant to work in two jobs at a time, as a shop keeper and as a nanny. This is where the challenge comes in; she is faced with the dilemma as to whether she needs to remain home and attend to her abusive father as a very obedient daughter or run away with her lover by the name frank who works in the town as a sailor and begin a whole new life. Frank convinces Eveline to do this and even promises her a good life in Buenos Aires, but Eveline has not informed his father of this and plans to leave with him in secrecy (Ochsenfahrt, 2010). When she looks at her life with Frank, she is filled with a lot of Joy and happiness in her heart. However, as she thinks of her father all the happiness is taken away since her father disapproves the one person who has afforded her this (Joyce, 2012). Eveline is so afraid that if she remains with her father she is going to go through the tormentation that her mother went through. This even gives her more reason for her to leave with frank and begin a new life in the Buenos Aires. Unfortunately, the memories in her mind really confuses her. During this time, Eveline hears a street organ playing in a native home and this organ reminds her of the painful night that was before the death of her mother, she swears that she will not go through the life of her mother that was described as ‘commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness’, (Ochsenfahrt, 2010) but this is what she has been doing all her life. She seems still afraid to make the move of leaving her father by himself and follow frank. Eveline, she highly wants to make a silent escape but she seems to be imprisoned by the character of her mom of making sure that there is protocol followed for making such a move. This is even expressed more when we see her seeking guidance in prayers which openly shows that she still has not made a final decision yet. Her mind keeps on moving in circles as days move on. She will keep on promising frank that she will make the decision yet she is still held by the strong commitment to making sure that she has obeyed her father as a good daughter until the time of his father (Joyce, 2012). According to the above analysis of the book, it can be argued that Eveline is better off staying with his father. She should go back home instead of running away with frank. Her actions are ones that portray a woman who is so tied to family that even if she was to run away with frank would not help her in any way. She would even be sadder knowing that her father was left with no one to take care of him during these trying times (Ochsenfahrt, 2010). This is because, if she runs off with frank, Eveline will keep on wondering and worrying as to whether the move was right. As a matter of fact this would destroy her more. It is true that her love for Frank might drown her into believing all will be well, but she is a woman who is used to the Dublin way of life and moving away would not bring her any form of happiness that she would be looking for (Joyce, 2012). Conclusion In concluding this argument, it can be agreed that Eveline is much safer if she remains at home. The whole book seems to describe more of the kind of world that Eveline is used to more than the world she is not familiar with. (Joyce, 2012) As mentioned above, Eveline is a Dubliner and she is used to living an ordinary life, which is a common character in her world. People like Eveline are used to living their lives guided by sense more than logic. Having her leave her father for a new venture will bring more harm that happiness to her world. Perhaps the best thing that she could do in order to maintain both the life she lives with and the lover of her life would be to make sure she works harder in seeking her father’s approval more than secretly planning to leave with frank without the consent of her father (Ochsenfahrt, 2010). Her feeling of stagnation is what makes the whole story interesting and though one might think her a coward, in this essay it can be said that she is a more cautious and considerate woman of whom his father and frank as well is happy to have by their side. Her decision should to leave her father should thus not be welcome at all, frank on the other side should not spend time convincing her to leave her home since she will be leaving the only person she is indebted to care for since her mother died (Ochsenfahrt, 2010). References: Joyce, J. (June 1, 2012). Eveline [Kindle Edition]. Acheron Press . Ochsenfahrt, K. (May 15, 2010). Analysis of James Joyces short story "Eveline": How can we tell that Eveline is not in love? [Kindle Edition]. In K. Ochsenfahrt, Analysis of James Joyces short story "Eveline": How can we tell that Eveline is not in love? [Kindle Edition] (p. 4). GRIN Verlag GmbH; 1 edition . Read More