Eveline

Eveline, by James Joyce, is a short story that gives an insight into the troubles and hardships of some commoners in the city of Dublin. The author blatantly says that the citizens of Dublin have a sort of "spiritual paralysis" and have trouble overcoming that. This story maintains that view of the that lack of spiritual progress and that is present not only in the situation that Eveline is in, but also in her decision to stay. At the end of the story, the text states, "Her eyes gave him no sign of love or farewell or recognition,"(222) which reveals just the extent to which Eveline is stuck in her continual ways. She cannot move on from the life that she is living and that becomes extremely evident when she justifies her leaving Dublin for a better place. She builds up her life, in short, as one without a mother that left her to try and maintain good house that her mother had brought her up in. This environment is not one that is ideal for anyone to live in. Her father is abusive and she has given him a fair share of chances to try to change his ways and make their lives better. This lack of improvement justifies Eveline as trying to better the place for as long as she can. She also creates a place where she will be headed as one that she will have an increasingly better life than the one that she is currently living. After all of her support for her own departure of leaving this city that is not meant for her, she stops short and holds back. She stays on despite all of the circumstances that scream that she should leave and find a place where she will have a sort of spiritual progress.