EmotionalParalysis

張硯

Eveline， a brilliant tale in the short-story collection Dubliners by James Joyce， unfolds that Eveline， the 19-year-old protagonist， conflicts， struggles and tragically becomes paralyzed in her inner bosom when weighing whether to escape with Frank to explore a brand-new life.Sitting by the window， Eveline recalls her withering pleasant childhood， the violence of his father， her mothers commonplace life， as well as her real tiresome life， and dreams about the new life with Jack filled with respect and happiness.But emotionally struggling and hesitated， she fails to gather the courage to run away pursuing a new life， cowardly leaving herself as depressive as before.

The short story offers us an insightful look at the social conditions and paralyzed souls of women in Ireland of the day.As with other works of Joyce， exquisite and paradoxical emotions and thoughts win the story a name rather than actions and plots full of ups and downs.The themes： paralysis and escape penetrating through the story， it successfully makes us in a lingering suspension from the very beginning but eventually frustrates all our expectations with Evelines final decision： giving up the right to seek for happiness.Though the external narrator conveys the whole story to us， we may well strongly feel the focalizer shifts from the narrator to Eveline through- -out the story， on which occasion， the impressive and thought-provoking characters are licked into shape.

The protagonist， Eveline， is a round character reflected fully through the employment of free indirect style.On one hand， she is a young woman eager to be free from the stifling life she is trapped in and has every reason to leave.She is undertaking an incredibly heavy burden of her family as her mother did before； the bad-tempered father who is always treating her unfair and abusing her makes her wearied； that her mothers “commonplace sacrifices” won nothing but death “in craziness” frightens her.Besides， motifs such as the unkind “Miss Gavan”， “the yellowing photograph”， and the inexhaustible “dust” are all destructive and depressive.As “she” argues， “everything changes.Now she was going to go away like the others， to leave her home.” （James Joyce， p37） And it is Frank representing vigor and happiness that reinforces her desire for escape.Superficial as her understsanding about love seems， one thing for sure is that in Evelines eyes， Frank seems an embodiment of happiness.

On the other hand， to our disappointment， she is a coward lacking in courage to defeat such an oppressive life and pursue happiness.She has been paralyzed by the depressive atmosphere and so scared of breaking away from it that at the moment of departing， in her mind， the boat becomes “the black mass”， “all the seas of the world tumbled about her heart”（ibid.P42）， and even Frank becomes a danger who “would drown her”（ibid.P42）.After experiencing the emotional struggles， and conflicts， she is still incapable of making a leap in life， for society paralyzes her mind， making her tragic.

Its well worth noted that as the story develops， the focalization shifts artfully between the external narrator and Eveline.Though Joyce maintains the third-person narrative voice， its obvious that we read the flows of emotions and thoughts through Evelines eyes.For example， with the narrator as the focalizer， the first paragraph neutrally reveals Evelines posture and her tired condition concisely， immediately followed by her observations， memories of her childhood， and thoughts of her life in detail， which we intensely feel and absorb through her eyes.As mentioned in the Cambridge Introduction to Narrative， “focalizing can contribute richly to how we think and feel as we read”（H.Poter Abbott， P67）.The shifts do have a profound impact on our interpretation.

On balance， Eveline written by Joyce， is a paralyzed epitome in Ireland during the close of the nineteenth century.The analysis from a narrative perspective does make for our better understanding of the great work.

References：

[1]James Joyce.“Eveline”， Dubliners：Signet Classics； Centennial（2007） P37-43.

[2]H.Porter Abbott.The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative： Cambridge University Press（2008）.