Week 6 Blog on Angela's Ashes

Chapter 1

 

This I found to be a better read that The Dubliners. I Liked his style how he would leave little gaps here and there along the way. Although this was a sad story, McCourt made me laugh a few times throughout it. It reminded me of The Boarding House from Joyce with the whole getting pregnant and then marrying concept. I felt bad for Frank as for he did not have a great upbringing and it amazed me that his mother had the five children within the four years she was married to his father. As being the eldest of the children he seemed to get shut out a lot by his family. His younger brother Malachy seemed to attract all the attention. It was sad to see that the baby girl Margaret did not live very long. The mother went into a depression and sort-of left Frank to care for his brothers for his father had left in a depression as well. I felt bad for him and his brothers because they had nothing. At one point he mentioned in his mind if Mrs. Leibowitz or Minnie could be his mothers and have food made for him as they did to help the boys out when their mother was depressed. I do not blame her for being depressed for I have no idea what that feeling would be like but I do believe that there is a time to gather yourself together and move on although it may be very hard. It took Angela’s cousins to come and get her back to Ireland. I wonder how things will go there after leaving New York.

 

Jonathan Taylor

Week 6 Blog on Dubliners

Interesting that in this story, the main character, Gabriel, is referred to by his first name, whereas other main characters who are grown men are referred to as “Mr. ______.” The only reasonable explanation I’ve been able to come up with is that in some traditions the angel Gabriel is regarded as one of the archangels, or angels of death, and this story being called “The Dead,” well….it just seemed to fit. Whether or not this is correct, if I’ve learned one thing from reading Joyce, it’s that everything means something! Anyway, Gabriel seems to be the odd one out in this story, annoyed by the guests (and hosts) at the Christmas party who are either foolish or rude. He would rather be outside in the refreshing cold air rather than be with the party guests at the dinner table, yet he still forces himself to make a kind toast. The Christmas gathering is a tradition that has gone on for years and years, and Gabriel feels obliged to attend each year and mask his ill feelings. He is stuck because of tradition. Later that evening (early morning!) when he and his wife arrive at the hotel to spend the rest of the night, Gabriel is unable to express his amorous feelings to her. I find this to be somewhat ridiculous and sad, because they have been married for many years—it is a shame that they are so out of practice of being romantic together. After years of putting their work, children, and the household before their marriage, a good opportunity to rekindle their love is lost. However, a little later Gabriel realizes that perhaps his wife never really loved him that much—she had been secretly storing up for years her feelings about her first love, who died young because of her, and perhaps that prevented Gretta from keeping her marriage alive. The story ends with a chilling image of snow falling faintly upon all the living and the dead…but in Dublin, the living are “dead,” unable to accomplish anything that would allow them to be happier. No one really lives life.

I enjoyed this book overall because of the very distinctive characters and because of the way Joyce really got to the heart of human weakness. No doubt we’ll all be better off if we apply lessons learned from these characters to our own lives.

Week 5 Blog on Dubliners

A Mother

Coming from a musical background myself, I found the actions and decisions of the concert committee to be totally ridiculous and unethical, so I very much sympathized with Mrs. Kearney, as abrasive as she was. She was stuck in a way that was a bit different from the main characters of other stories in Dubliners. Despite her frantic actions to try to get payment for her daughter’s performance, she could not get what she needed because she acted in a non-lady-like way. Being a woman (in Ireland in the early 20th century) was what made her powerless. Ironically, her husband, who she brought to support her, didn’t seem to do anything that influenced the committee either way. Sadly, the daughter was at the whim of her helpless parents, and all future concert engagements in Dublin were cut off for her because of them. One can only hope that that would motivate her to get out of Dublin….


Grace

The Grace of God, perhaps? (Or could “grace” be a mockery of the way Mr. Kernan descends a flight of stairs??) This story captured my attention from the first sentence, but the action seemed to slow down quite a bit once I learned who Mr. Kernan was. Oh well. As the story unfolds, it is clear that Mr. Kernan is a paralyzed character, beyond the fact that he becomes an invalid after falling down the stairs in a drunken stupor. Mr. Kernan, the helpless idiot that he is, is relatively content with his life the way it is, or at least is unmotivated to truly change his less-than-desirable behaviors. No doubt his friends’ attempt to “save” him by having him confess his sins to a priest will have no affect on his behavior. As Mr. Kernan said about the priest: "If he doesn’t like it….he can…do the other thing. I’ll just tell him my little tale of woe. I’m not such a bad fellow---" Pitiful! I feel sorry for his wife, who seems to have her act together, but it’s a shame that she basically tolerates her husband’s idiocy. Just because he doesn’t beat her doesn’t mean that he’s worth being married to… Early 20th century Dublin is certainly portrayed as a very frustrating time and place in which to live.

Week 4 Blog on Dubliners

Clay

I feel sad for Maria. She is hardworking and thoughtful, and everyone likes her, but men are not interested in her romantically. Maria is shy, very small physically, and she is not pretty (as the long chin/long nose reference indicates), so perhaps she is somewhat overlooked, despite her other good qualities. Though she claims to other women who tease her that she does not want a ring or a man, her disappointed eyes say otherwise. (Yet another mention of “eyes!”) During the game Maria plays with the children at Joe’s house, she is blindfolded and asked to pick an object. The first time she puts her hand into (presumably) a pile of clay that the children mischievously took from the garden as a prank, though the second time she (unknowingly) selects the prayer book. By choosing the prayer book, the others foretell that Maria will enter a convent in the next year, which certainly doesn’t seem out of the question, judging by her relationship status. She would have been better off sticking with the clay. Again, Maria is another character stuck in an unhappy mold, unable to do anything about it.

A Painful Case

This story may be my favorite so far. I found it to be extremely captivating and poignant. Mr. Duffy, a grim hermit who seems aged beyond his actual years, lived a life that was “an adventureless tale.” That is, until he met Mrs. Sinico, the woman of his dreams (though he’d never admit that she was!) Mrs. Sinico is a smart, attractive woman who is genuinely interested in Mr. Duffy’s intellectual life (the only sort of life he had). The only problem is that she is married and has a daughter, and Mr. Duffy is unwilling to have a secret romantic relationship with her. Thus, he breaks off their “friendship” (budding romance!), and reverts back to his usual lonely life. He doesn’t realize that his decision destroyed any chance for happiness either of them could have until it was too late. Four years after the “breakup,” Mr. Duffy reads of Mrs. Sinico’s apparent suicide, described as “a painful case.” The way the suspense built in the story, I knew that this was going to happen before actually reading it! What a riveting few pages. The guilt that Mr. Duffy feels over Mrs. Sinico’s death is almost contagious. I felt like I was in the room with him. The loneliness this woman must have felt due to the lack of attention by her frequently out of town, oblivious husband, as well as being rejected by a man who seemed like he really could have loved her, was certainly a painful case…more so than her actual death. Mr. Duffy’s self-prescribed loneliness as well as the guilt he felt over Mrs. Sinico’s death was just as painful. Indeed, he is stuck in an unhappy life just like every other main character in this book. What’s so sad is that he had a chance for happiness, but by abiding by conventions and supposed morals, he is doomed to be lonely forever.

Ivy Day in the Committee Room

This story took some careful reading for me to grasp what was going on. I truly felt as if I were stepping into a room, encountering the characters mid-conversation. The characters flitted from one subject to the next, and kept interrupting themselves by lighting cigarettes and opening bottles of alcohol. Mr. O’Connor, the man who was supposed to be canvassing votes for the upcoming election, didn’t do what he was supposed to do most of the time. Instead, he spent most of his days in the Committee Room, smoking, drinking, and chatting, using the poor weather as an excuse for not going out and soliciting the information he needed. In this sense, he is paralyzed: while O’Connor has the opportunity to help create needed change for his country, he wastes that opportunity. Another interesting part of this story concerns the possibility of the King of England coming to Ireland: while some Dubliners feel that the kings’ coming will help create wealth in Ireland, others do not want to be dependent on England. Either way, there seems to be no great solution. Ireland is stuck just like the characters in this story are stuck.

Week 3 blog on Dubliners

The Boarding House

I enjoyed The Boarding House because it seemed like there was a lot happening that wasn’t spoken. Mrs. Mooney, described as being a cunning and firm woman, was just that: she knew how to get her way. By allowing her daughter Polly to flirt with the boarders, and by keeping quiet about it, Mrs. Mooney undoubtedly realized that eventually the flirting would go so far with some poor man that Mrs. Mooney would have just cause to insist that the man marry Polly. Perhaps, because Mrs. Mooney did not feel that her daughter would be safe working outside the home, due to visits by Mrs. Mooney’s dangerous, drunk ex-husband, Mrs. Mooney thought that marrying Polly off would be a way to get her out of the house but at the same time, the girl would have someone to look over her. Still, I find it ironic that after suffering such an awful marriage herself, Mrs. Mooney would manipulate her daughter to marry a man who very well may not be suited to her. But perhaps Mrs. Mooney needed a way to control people since she undoubtedly felt that she had no control over her ex-husband’s abusive behavior.

Mr. Doran, the man who presumably succumbs to agreeing to marry Polly (though we never really know for sure), was paralyzed for this reason. He could have left town, but didn’t, because of the guilt put on him by Mrs. Mooney and the priest, and because of the threat he felt from Polly’s brother. Joyce slams the strictness of Catholicism again, and he also highlights the fact that those who stay in Dublin will never be able to make good choices for themselves. It is doubtful that Mr. Doran and Polly will have a good life together. Aside from the fact that they are very different, who knows if Polly’s kind acts towards Mr. Doran will continue once she and her mother get what they want. She is a self-proclaimed “naughty girl,” and she is able to rouse herself from tears (whether actual or feigned) in almost no time. This indicates to me that she is not a genuine person.

A Little Cloud

I enjoyed this story very much as well. Little Chandler is obviously the paralyzed character in this chapter, as he is stuck in a joyless marriage and has no hope of moving on to bigger and better things with either his work or his love life. Though he can really only blame himself for his inaction, I nevertheless feel sorry for Little Chandler. He lacked the strength (and possibly talent) to launch himself into a better career, and his devoutness to his religion seemed to hold him back as well, keeping him from exploring more exciting “immoral” cities such as Paris and London. His physique was described as childlike, and perhaps that imposed a sense of powerlessness on him. He couldn’t even control his crying baby. The anticipation of meeting with his successful, worldly friend probably made him feel like he was floating on a “little cloud,” allowing him to think that if his friend, who had less education and refinement than he did, could become so successful and happy, then he had a chance, too. However, the fantasy didn’t last, and Chandler eventually became envious of his friend and bitter about his own life and the fact that his timidity stood in the way of his chance for accomplishments. I found it interesting that in this chapter, Joyce comes out and states: “There was no doubt about it: if you wanted to succeed, you had to go away. You could do nothing in Dublin.” What is hinted at throughout each chapter of the book is laid out very clearly in A Little Cloud.

Counterparts

I found this story to be very disturbing. The main character, Farrington, is often referred to as “the man” by the narrator, perhaps because he was such a despicable individual that he didn’t deserve to be called by name...that would give him too much human quality. This man has just about every bad quality imaginable: he has a creepy physique, with “dirty” eyes; he is lazy (paralyzed?) as an employee; he is disrespectful to his superiors; he is short tempered and mean to his friends when he doesn’t get his way; he is inclined to cheat on his wife; he is irresponsible with money; and he is abusive to his family. There is not one good thing about him. What’s even worse is that others allow him to continue behaving the way he does—his boss has not yet fired him, his friends continue to socialize with him, and his large family is likely dependent on him to bring in money, and thus, they are stuck with him. In Joyce’s opinion, it was people such as this man as well as the fact that others tolerated him that held Ireland back.