Dubliners Blog

 I have always been an avid anti-Joyce reader, which started when I was forced to read A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man in high school. I have a hard time appreciating stream-of-consciousness writing, and I did not find him to be as talented as everyone said he was.

For this reason, I was dreading Dubliners as soon as I saw it on the syllabus. For the most part, I remained consistent with my dislike towards Joyce, but I found myself genuinely intrigued by Gabriel's discomfort and the tension that I found present at this party. It honestly reminded me a lot of how many family parties go today, where many people there are at vastly different stages of life, and some people became very economically successful, while others just hope they are written in that person's will. 

In my family, we are all very politically divided, and it gets tense the moment someone mentions who the other one voted for, and I found it funny that Joyce was already writing about this when Gabriel's aunt scolds him for writing for a newspaper that she finds to be anti-Irish. 

Another interesting aspect of this story is Gabriel's inability to deal with uncomfortable situations, and he instead just throws out money. This can be seen when he offends the maid, and instead of apologizing or offering up kind words, he just gives her a large tip which shows the disconnect between the wealthy and the middle class in society. 

Gabriel is asked to give a speech, and he shows even more snobbery during that. He is the center of the story - everyone awaited his arrival the most, the family asked him to carve the goose, and they wanted him to give a speech. And yet, the reader can see that Gabriel is just a walking textbook who does not show much intellectual depth. For me, this reminded me of a recurring thought I have that a college education does not always equate to full intelligence. Many of my friends from home did not go to college and have very successful jobs right now, in which they use their knowledge that they have just gained through life. And yet, for the most part, those who attend college end up having a higher salary and gain more respect. It's just something that reminded me of Gabriel.

One part that I do not fully understand is the ending of the story, where Gabriel's wife suddenly speaks of a past lover who died (I could be wrong - but that is what I believe was said). Gabriel realizes that he will never equate to this lover, and he goes to bed with feelings of inadequacy. However, he has a sort of epiphany at the end that I have not been able to fully dissect. 

He reflects on the world outside the window, which he can see so clearly, and yet feels far away from. What I got from this is that Gabriel feels sorely disconnected from the world around him which causes feelings of anger, since he can reach out and grab anything but will not fully understand. However, I read a couple of different interpretations online, particularly about the last line of the story.

Overall, I was pleased with this story because it showed me that you can find something you like with any author, even one that you had a personal vendetta with. I'm excited to travel to Dublin to see the place that inspired this collection of stories, even if we're seeing the touristy parts that probably do not properly convey their full culture. Counting down the days at this point! (10 days!!!!!!!!)