Dubliners

            
             In James Joyce's novel, Dubliners, the author presents several short vignettes that all involve characters living in Dublin at the dawn of the 20th century. His stories, although, unrelated in characters and plot, focus on several important themes that re-emerge several times throughout the collection. The fifteen stories starkly portray the conditions and prevailing social mores that defined Dublin by utilizing characters of all ages in order to achieve a complete and fulfilled portrait of the city. Originating from Dublin himself, Joyce can personally relate to the lives and situations of the characters, but more importantly to the often debilitating standards that seemed to constrict ambitions, dreams, and desires, leaving a city defined by paralysis. Although characters differ in age, background, and social standing, they all are unable to break from the proverbial yoke that enslaves them, leaving them weakened and engulfed in undefined disparity. The paralysis evident in the characters differs from story to story, yet there are reoccurring themes such as social, economic, and spiritual paralysis. These three central elements illustrate the obstacles that stymie individuals" ambition, as well as representing a microcosm of Dublin itself.
             Joyce views Dublin as a city in which one is severely limited by the prevailing social standards that engulf the city and constrict one's freedom. This is apparent in many of his stories in which characters find themselves living in a sort of social quagmire, unable to rise from its grasp. This form of paralysis often appears in family life and personal relationships in which characters wish to alter their unfulfilling lives, but are unable to do so. In the story "A Painful Case" the character Mr. Duffy is a lonely figure relegated to a life defined by intentional repetition, a complete absence in the community, and an emotional void.