Eveline Essay - 578 Words

In the short story Eveline by James Joyce, the title character Eveline is fearful of making a change in her life by moving with her boyfriend Frank from her homeland of Ireland and making a life with him in Buenos Ayres. Joyce illustrates that one of our most inherent qualities as humans and one that Eveline displays is that we are resistant to change. Through Evelines relationships with her father, Frank and various peripheral relationships, Joyce demonstrates to us how Eveline has come to have certain beliefs about change. There is overwhelming evidence in Evelines life that change is good, yet she continues to resist it. Eveline saw her mother make many common sacrifices and give up her freedom of choice in everyday†¦show more content†¦He does not want a worldly man such as Frank having any influence on his daughter. He believes that if Eveline did become serious with Frank he, as her father, would become a lower priority in Evelines life. She would most certainly leave the house and quite possibly move far away, which would be yet another change the old man would have to endure. Other factors lead to Eveline being fearful of change. Not only change in commitments but change in physical surroundings are things she does not embrace, though she has been surrounded by change most of her life; when she was a child, she would play in the field with the neighbor children every evening, until it was built upon. She has also experienced change in the form of death; childhood friends, her brother and her mother - all are dead. Death is not a positive representation of change to be sure. As Evelyn ponders change, she comes to the realization that the physical surroundings of her everyday life would no longer be there. The furnishings, the pictures, the curtains, even the dust would be distant memories! Things she has unknowingly drawn comfort from her entire life would not be there to comfort her; they would be gone. Change may not be something she wants. All of these realizations about change are due to Eveline considering the biggest change in her life: the change she is most fearful about, moving away from Ireland to be with Frank in BuenosShow MoreRelated Empty Spaces in James Joyces Eveline from Dubliners Essay1080 Words   |  5 Pagesclearly delineating his characters every feature, Joyce concentrates on hinting at the emotional meanings of his depictions with a rich thick dab of paint here and there. Although Joyce flexes his descriptive muscles in the Dubliners short story Eveline (1914,) he leaves much to the imagination of the reader through calculated omissions and suggestive phrases.    Such omissions begin at the opening of the story; She sat at the window watching the evening invade the avenue (Joyce 37). 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