Mr.Duffy in Dubliners

Also Joyce attributes negative adjectives to Mrs. Sinico, and by doing this he debases and warps the image that the reader might hold in his or her minds eye. Thus this divorces her from Duffy whom at this stage we pity. Adjectives that achieve this effect include "vulgar", "squalid" and "malodorous". Thus by Joyce divorcing this image of Mrs. Sinico, the only person that we know of to have been close to Duffy, from him he emphasises his isolation and loneliness. The word "lonely" is also repeated a considerable number of times, thus once again emphasising the experience of isolation.
             As well as this use of cold language, Joyce uses narrative to isolate Duffy from the rest of the world. During the relatively short passage, he encounters quite a few people, but not once does he attempt to interact with any of them, and neither do they attempt to interact with him. The proprietor who serves Duffy in the public-house "served him obsequiously but did not venture to talk". He encounters some workmen, and using this passage Joyce puts across the fact that Duffy is not only ignoring people but his entire environment and surroundings; "he gazed at them without seeing or hearing them". This implies that Duffy is in a world of his own, divorced from reality, and thus broadcasts his isolation very strongly. His final meeting really emphasises the fact that Duffy is totally alone. He espies "some human figures lying" in a park near the tunnel. .
             "He knew that (they) were watching him and wished him gone. Noone wanted him" This quote puts across the sense of isolation that Duffy must be feeling very strongly because he is starting to assume people don't want him rather than just ignoring him. Due to the fact that the human brain blocks out most real truths in order to maintain emotional well-being, the experience of isolation must be extremely powerful in order to breach those mental defences, and this is implied through the fact that Duffy is assuming on his own that people don't want him.