"Compelled" revised once again

The Dead, seems to be based entirely on Joyce’s cynical perceptions of what life in Dublin brings about for a man. Joyce portrays Gabriel as man who clearly felt trapped. It seems he like Gabriel possess a freethinking mind and spirit. Joyce’s distaste for the country and simple-minded countrymen is vivid throughout this piece of work. Joyce is quoted in 1906 after complaints on the work of Dubliners, “My intention was to write a moral history of my country and I chose Dublin for the scene because that city seemed to me the center of paralysis…[…] I have written it for the most part in a style of scrupulous meanness”(Joyce). I cannot help but to think that pieces of Gabriel represent Joyce. How he would have felt if he had lead the typical life in Dublin as expected of him. He spins a story of a man trapped in a world of obligations.

Gabriel is a man compelled to behave as he is expected. A man trapped unable to break free from the stereotypes pushed on him. He is pushed to respond to the demands of family. Not to say that he does not love and greatly admire whom they are. He just feels as though he has more to offer than being just a husband and father. He seems to resent the demands placed on him by his aunts, yet he dutifully plays the role. He is a writer after all, with great mind and wit about him. Yet lacking in self-confidence he questions himself. Gabriel wants people to accept him even though he is not content with what he has to offer up. Not only does he question other people’s standards he questions himself. He is restless and haggard from putting up the pretense, as he is much to hard on himself.

Miss Ivors must represent someone in Joyce past. Pushing guilt on Gabriel about his dislike of Ireland and his tendencies to feel more of a European. She questions why he would choose to write for a Britain paper. She pushes him about embracing his own land and culture. Then in outrage he admits his disgust with his own country. Again this must reflects Joyce’s own views in this piece of work. Joyce’s views become one with Gabriel’s in that it has been said, “He felt happiest in Europe, and thought of himself as a part of its, rather than Irish or British, culture” (Joyce).

The story seems to drag on and on about a party that last just a few hours. Joyce’s views are clearly captured in this work. That he would intentionally make the story so dull and lifeless. He clearly achieves his goal in representing, “The working lives, family life, oppressive social mores and even leisure pursuits of the characters trap them in monotonous, constrictive routines from which they seem unable to escape” (Joyce).


“Joyce, James, 1882-1941.” Literature Online Reference Edition. 2000
http://lionreference.chadwyck.com.ezproxy.maconstate.edu