Eveline-Discuss Joyce exploration of hope Defeated

Joyce?s Dubliners deals with ?snapshots? of early nineteenth century, predominantly lower class, Dublin life. Like many of these stories Eveline explores a girls hopes and dreams and her attempts to escape from her current life in search of something better.
?She sat at the window watching the evening invade the avenue. Her head was leaned against the window curtains, and in her nostrils was the odour of dusty cretonne. She was tired?. The fact that she is staring out of the window is a classically symbolic of the will to ?escape? as it automatically infers her feeling that she is ?trapped?. This is seen similarly in other of ?Dubliners? stories and likewise in ?Jude the Obscure?. The darkness of evening in combination with the foul smell contribute to the generally bleak and static atmosphere which are apparent as a major part of the depressing undertones of the book as a whole. ?She had dusted once a week for many years, wondering where on earth all the dust came from.? Although Dublin life is described as ?hard? this highlights the static and monotonous aspect of their lives along with the ?yellowing photograph? of the priest. One also picks up on the feeling that many people strive to leave Dublin and when her father casually says of the priest, ?He is in Melbourne now?, there is an implication of jealousy. The descriptions of Dublin are equally uninspiring, highlighting the lack of aesthetic sites, such as ?a man from Belfast bought the field and built houses in it.? Her reasons for staying are minimal and are summarised in one sentence by ?she had shelter and food; she had those whom she had known all her life about her?. These generally negative descriptions make the reader empathise with her desire to leave and consequently making her failure even more tragic. She logically ?weighs each side of the question? showing her complete sanity and logicality making her conclusions more definite earning further empathy.
The relationship Eveline has with her family members distinctly shows that she feels alone in her present lifestyle. Her mother and Ernest, her eldest brother and ?favourite? are both dead - in itself tragic- along with Harry, her other brother, who was ?nearly always down somewhere in the country? and her father who is an alcoholic. We are told she gives her ?entire wages? to her father who has ?begun to threaten her? and is ?usually fairly bad on Saturday night.? She hopes that ?in her new home, in a distant unknown country, it would not be like that and?people would treat her with respect?. However, it is implied when she states ?she did not find it a wholly undesirable life? that subconsciously she feels institutionalised and hence cannot leave.
It is also made clear that Eveline cannot turn in the direction of the church for aid and in a number of passages it comes under negative portrayal. In ?The Sisters? Mr. Cotter says ?I wouldn?t want children of mine to have too much to say to a man like that? speaking of their priest followed by a paragraph of negative physical descriptions. The Rev. James Flynn goes on to die and instead of feeling mournful he feels a ?sensation of freedom as if I had been freed of something by his death?. As a result of this lack of companions Frank is the only person in her life that she considers ?kind, manly and open-hearted? and although this may be true whether she really loves him or whether she is just forcing herself to in order to escape to a supposed haven, Buenos Ayres.
Another strong theme running through the collection is that of unfulfilled or unrealised relationships most tragically of Gretta and Michael Furey in ?The
Dead?. The relationship between her parents is a typical example and she does not want to fall to a similar fate and so convinces herself that Frank will ?take her in his arms, fold her in his arms. He would save her?. This conjures up an image of romantic and careless escape following her ?hero?, which she tries to ignore as being unrealistic.
We also get the feeling that this feeling is an impulsive decision when she ?stood up in a sudden impulse of terror. Escape! She must escape!?. Throughout the collection there are many other direct references to the need for adventure or escape and not only from personal situations but also from the city of Dublin. ?I wanted real adventures?and they do not happen to people who remain at home: they must be sought abroad? ? ?An Encounter?. Little Chandler wants to swap Dublin life for that of London in ?A Little Cloud? and also feels that ?there was no doubt about it: if you wanted to succeed, you had to go away. You could do nothing in Dublin?. The stories are impressionistic in style concerning cases of economic and spiritual poverty in which a window of opportunity opens, offering hope, and then is firmly closed, commanding a general feeling of bathos, failure and depression.
?She caught a glimpse of the black mass of the boat? implies she has an underlying fear which is possibly nothing more than of the physical action of leaving and travelling. It is clear in the final paragraphs that she is very confused as to what she wants to do. ?Her distress awoke a nausea in her body and she kept moving her lips in silent fervent prayer? and the boats whistle is ?mournful?.
It is not made exactly clear why it is that Eveline does not leave her home city although according to her own words she felt ?elated? about the prospect of leaving which implies that she cannot bring herself to do so. This may be because she wishes to remain loyal to her father and brother who may not be able to cope and survive without her. It may also be out of a sense of fear as she has not ever left Dublin and may well feel institutionalised or that she does not want to jeopardise what precious little she has. All these factors lead to her final indecision and she can only ? set her white face to him, passive, like a helpless animal.? The fact that ?her eyes gave him no sign of love or farewell or recognition? shows that she is in a state of complete uncertainty as she realises that she cannot leave and, as a result, stay with the only person she cares for.
Eveline portrays most of the classic elements of the book ranging from unfulfilled relationships, the hardship of Dublin life, the desire for escape and most importantly the sense of hopes defeated. We empathise greatly with the protagonist, only on a par with Polly in ?The Boarding House?. We understand their simple desire for a better life and the bathos surrounding this window of opportunity eventually leading to the tragic element of her final, helpless state.