Plot

The story begins talking about the narrator who sat staring out of the window
watching the night as it invades Dublin. Eveline was a young woman who
wanted to escape her reality and the miserable life she's living away from her
father and from the responsibilities of surrogate motherhood, this trauma after
her mother's death. However she didn’t have enough courage to do so when
she was offered a good chance, that’s when we start to discover Eveline more
and know more about her character and her childhood memories and
background.

She remembers back in the days when she used to play with her brothers and
neighbors and when her father was less violent than he is now, she was
happier back then. Now staring out of the window she sees how her town
Dublin has changed developing more brick houses, where other people's
children used to play, but not her brother Ernest who was too grown to play,
who's now dead just like her mother and that’s Eveline tragedy… not to
mention her father who turns to drinking after , specifically on Saturdays.

Eveline works as a shop girl in the shops of Dublin, she gains a sad amount
of money a week, but her father would still take those seven shillings. She
dreamed of escaping this dull that was imposed on her because of the
circumstances, but she promised her mother to keep the house together and
tolerate everything for the sake of her two younger brothers. But now one is
dead and one has left, and her father is an alcoholic who turns to alcohol after
the death of her mother.
She then meets a young man "Frank" he sailed around the world, he fell in
love with her and offered her a getaway, away from everything and asked her
to marry him and take her with him to Buenos Aires. She accepted his offer,
however was hesitant on the day of her departure we he has arranged
everything for them to leave. When she sat at the window recapping things
from her past she was also thinking how is she going to explain her departure
to her father and brother. But at the end of the story, she realizes that she was
unwilling and unable to leave Ireland. She was a captive of the past; thinking
that she has no future away from Ireland and couldn’t leave.

Analysis

The narrator tells the story in third-person point of view. He begins, reporting
from a distance, as if he is sitting on the other side from Eveline. And, the
narrator enters the mind of Eveline and continues the rest of the story from
there revealing the thoughts of the main character as she considers whether
to remain home or go to Argentina to marry. She reviews the events of her
life, comparing the quality of her life in Dublin over the years with the quality of
life she believes she would have in Buenos Aires. Evelin character is made up
by her feelings, thoughts, and memories. The narrator wants to give to the
reader a sense of stasis, absence of acting which are the traits of Eveline’s
personality. Eveline is submitted to her father and the life she's living.
The narrator does not describe Eveline from her physical appearance but only
with her typical behaviour and her reactions. And this gets the reader thinking
to get a full picture by connecting through the way she's thinking.

Main theme

The story focuses on the theme of escape. Eveline has been given a chance.
Yet in the end, she finds herself incapable of going. Although, she had every
reason to leave.

Along with other themes

Guilt
Eveline had promised her mother "to keep the house together.” Running away
to Argentina would break that promise which gives us an idea why would she
feel guilty. Thinking about her two young brothers, and her father who was
getting old; those are all factors that has triggered this feeling.

Doubt

The narrator hints that Eveline doubts everything about her relationship with frank ,
she consider his good qualities and traits as he was loving , kind , caring , manliness;
but she doubted his love. In paragraph 18: “She must escape! Frank would save
her. He would give her life, perhaps love, too.” And doubted her love to frank
also. She prays to god "to show her what her duty was" her feeling about guilt and
doubt regarding her relationship with frank with the attachment to Dublin, overcame
her desire to escape.

Eveline may also have been aware that Buenos Aires had a reputation as a
place where young women were often ensnared in a life of prostitution. Was it
possible that Frank was luring her into such a life?

Main Character

Eveline is the main character in our story, she's a young women who sat at
the window watching what is happening in the avenue recalling memories of
her childhood from the past. She feels lonely after the death and her father is
not at home; she started thinking about leaving everything behind after her
boyfriend frank offered to take her to Buenos Aires. However Eveline was not
sure about what she had to do; a lot was going on in her, and she doesn’t
know what to do. She is paralysed because she is unable to take a decision.

Her character is also described as Depressing, confused, and guilty

because she feels like she had a duty to stay home due to her promise to her
mom when she died.
Eveline is a very responsible character. The statement, “she always gave her
entire wages” shows her feeling of obligation to provide for her family. She is
also very indecisive as “she prayed to God to direct her, to show her what her
duty was.”

Climax, crisis and complication

A climax is a moment in the story where the conflict or tension reaches its
highest point. It is a stage in the narrative that all the action builds up to. At
times, it is also referred to as the crisis. The crisis is preceded by what is
known as the rising action. The climax is usually followed by the falling action
which would include a resolution that signifies the end of the story.

...The climax occurs in the story when Eveline decides not to board the ship
while Frank shouts "Come!" (Paragraphs 21, 24).  Her refusal to obey his
command could be a liberating moment for her if she also refuses to comply
with any unreasonable demands of her father. 

It is evident that Eveline's deepest desire is to be free from the restrictive and
suffocating life of drudgery that she has been living most of her life. All of her
thoughts and most of her actions revolve around the idea that Frank will take
her away from her miserable situation. She even goes as far as
accompanying him to the station to board a ship to Buenos Aires. The climax
of the story is reached when she finally decides not to leave with Frank. Her
decision is depicted in the following extract:

No! No! No! It was impossible. Her hands clutched the iron in frenzy. Amid the
seas she sent a cry of anguish.

What follows is the falling action. Frank calls to her but she refuses to
acknowledge him. Her mind has been made up. She has resolved the crisis in
her heart and in her mind by deciding to remain where she is. Eveline has,
ironically, chosen to continue living an unfulfilled and miserable life.
The End…