Concetti Chiave
- Eveline's story explores themes of epiphany and paralysis, symbolized by her internal struggle between family duty and the promise of escape with Frank.
- The window scene in Eveline highlights her contemplation of life's dualities, reflecting her oppressive past and uncertain future.
- In "The Funeral," Joyce contrasts traditional narration with an innovative interior monologue, showcasing Mr. Bloom's introspection during a funeral.
- The passage from "Ulysses" demonstrates a break from narrative tradition through unconventional language and structure, mirroring the subjective flow of thoughts.
- Both stories emphasize the theme of paralysis through symbols like dust in Eveline and the non-linear time perception in "The Funeral."
Eveline's dilemma
This short story talks about a girl, Eveline, of 19 years old. It presented two novelties: the epiphany and the paralysis, that is both physical and moral. She is sitting and she’s looking out of the window so it is the symbol of internal and external world. She is thinking about her life: her terrible childhood characterized by a violent father and her boyfriend Frank who is a mariner and that asked her to escape with him to Buenos Aires because they are fallen in love.
Symbols of paralysis and escape
The epiphany takes place when she listens the sound of a street organ that reminded in her the promise made to the dead mother: “to keep the home together as long as she could”. So we have from one end the necessity to remain in family that is ordered, violent, because she makes a promise with the mother and from the other end we have the escape with her love. She has two choices, as well as all protagonists, but the paralysis caused by the chains forced her to stay in Dublin. In this passage we can find two important symbols: the dust and the sea. The first represents the routine, the monotony of her life and so it refers to the paralysis that blocks her; while the second has to do with the escape with Frank.
Mr. Bloom's funeral reflections
It is an episode of Joyce’s “Ulysses”. In this passage Mr. Bloom attends to a funeral in Prospects Cemetery. The setting in time is 11 a.m. on 16th June 1904. He stands in front of the grave and counts the people in front of him. The atmosphere makes him think about death and his memories, in particular his father’s death which represents the epiphany.
There are two level of narration: the first is external and stands for the traditional narration while the second is inside Mr. Bloom’s mind. We can find the final step of Joyce’s narrative technique from tradition to innovation: the extreme interior monologue. There is also the break with the tradition in the use of language: lack of punctuation, inversion of traditional order of words, sentences without verb, no subject or made of only one word. The sentences with no regular use of grammar belong to the internal level of narration. In this passage there is the lack of narrator, Joyce also uses foreign words and slang. We can’t find chronological time but it’s subjective so there are links between past, present and future.
Domande da interrogazione
- Quali sono i temi principali della storia di Eveline?
- Come viene rappresentata l'epifania nel racconto di Eveline?
- Qual è l'importanza del funerale nel contesto di "Ulysses"?
- In che modo Joyce rompe con la tradizione nella narrazione del funerale?
I temi principali includono l'epifania, la paralisi fisica e morale, il conflitto tra il dovere familiare e l'amore, e i simboli della polvere e del mare.
L'epifania si manifesta quando Eveline ascolta il suono di un organo di strada che le ricorda la promessa fatta alla madre defunta di mantenere unita la famiglia.
Il funerale rappresenta un momento di riflessione per Mr. Bloom, evocando ricordi della morte del padre e illustrando l'uso innovativo del monologo interiore da parte di Joyce.
Joyce rompe con la tradizione attraverso l'uso di un monologo interiore estremo, la mancanza di punteggiatura, l'inversione dell'ordine tradizionale delle parole e l'assenza di un narratore.
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