Pennsylvania State University , 2005,

    Joyce's short story collection "Dubliners" transcends the ethos of the genre in its seemingly undramatic quality, its epiphanic climaxes, its focus on the nobodies of dreary Dublin. Indeed, Dublin becomes a microcosm for the world in these stories, and each character representative of mankind, much like Bloom's single-day experience in "Ulysses" is a microcosm of a whole lifetime.

Joyce examines specifically the paralysis of his city at the time, but on a larger scale he exposes the self-enslavement to which all human beings potentially fall subject. His heroes are not victorious, but they have been made aware. The reader is not as engrossed by what is actually happening as he is by how the character feels - and he is profoundly grateful and moved by this. No detail should be overlooked in these stories; each one quietly beholds the whole Universe.

Comments (0)

Name

Email

Comment

smaller | bigger

Add Comment