James Joyce’s Dubliners

Directions: Complete the table below. You responses should include specific details and examples, including a minimum of five key quotes from the story that are referenced by page number.

Score: ______/40

“The Sisters” / “An Encounter” / “Arby”
Summary / A young boy living with his aunt and uncle on North Richmond Street becomes infatuated with his friend Mangan’s older sister. He idolizes her from afar until one day she asks if he is attending the local bazaar Araby. He promises to bring her something if he goes; however, his uncle forgets the boy wishes to go and arrives home late and drunk. By the time, the boy is given permission to go most of the fair has closed. Nevertheless, he wanders around aimlessly, ultimately getting nothing.
Main ideas/ lessons/ themes
Minimum of three /
  • Fantasy and romanticism are destructive
  • Religion is hallow
  • Ireland is stuck in a state of paralysis

Examples/ Key Scenes and Lines /
  • “I had hardly any patience with the serious work of life which, now that it stood between me and my desire, seemed to me child’s play, ugly monotonous child’s play” (21).
  • “I recognized a silence like that which pervades a church after a service” (23).
  • “I lingered before her stall, though I knew my stay was useless to make my interest in her wares seem more real” (24).

Symbolism / Mangan’s nameless sister may symbolize Ireland – a romanticized ideal in need of something (change). If so, the boy’s quest becomes a quest for Ireland that is ultimately in vain, and the bazaar symbolizes how outside influences such as England and the church are stifling Ireland’s growth.
Literary Style and Techniques
Minimum of three /
  • Personification: streets as “blind” (19)
  • Metaphor: “I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger” (24).
  • Aposiopesis: “O, there’s a …fib” (23)!

Name and placement within novel / Araby is the name of the foreign bazaar, which comes to signify how Ireland’s culture is being corrupted by outside influences. The novel begins with childhood (pueritia) and shows how even youth is ruined by idleness, romanticism, and drunkenness.
“Eveline” / “After the Race” / “The Boarding House”
Summary
Main ideas/ lessons/ themes
Minimum of three
Examples/ Key Scenes and Lines
Symbolism
Literary Style and Techniques
Minimum of three
Name and placement within novel
“Counterparts” / “Clay” / “A Painful Case”
Summary
Main ideas/ lessons/ themes
Minimum of three
Examples/ Key Scenes and Lines
Symbolism
Literary Style and Techniques
Minimum of three
Name and placement within novel
“The Dead”
Summary
Main ideas/ lessons/ themes
Minimum of three
Examples/ Key Scenes and Lines
Symbolism
Literary Style and Techniques
Minimum of three
Name and placement within novel