Dubliners

“The Irish are a melancholy lot” – “Dubliners” by James Joyce proves that
old saying. Written in 1914, it is a collection of fifteen short stories. The
only thread that runs through the stories, tying them together is Dublin,
Ireland. They are arranged with the first few stories with a child as the
narrator, then on to progressively aging. The characters are Irish middle
class, with varying degrees of national patriotism.
Getting the book published was a story into itself. James Joyce submitted
the book eighteen times to fifteen different publishers. One agreed to
publish it if she would remove the story, Two Gallants. But, still refused.
Another partially printed it, then refused to return his copy without first
being paid. Even though he paid them, they still burned it. Luckily, James
Joyce managed to save one copy that he tricked out of them. In 1914 he
was finally able to get it published.
Dubliners are written simply, with dialogue that is easy to follow.
Although it is set in Ireland, the people are easy to relate to when placed
in any middle-income neighborhood. Joyce brings his characters to life
using their emotions without actually using many physical descriptions.
The stories are short but to the point. Each story shows an epiphany, or a
life changing moment or illuminating moment, that changes their
viewpoint. James Joyce wrote these stories with a tendency towards close
detail in order to make the settings more realistic. This allows the reader
to use the environment to better understand the characters.

Summary
The Sisters
The story begins with a young boy waiting for the death of the priest.
Every day he walks past the Father’s house and checks for a candle
flickering through the window. He knows that two candles would be lit at
the head of the corpse. Since the Father has had three strokes, the boy
knows he is going to die soon.
One evening, the boy comes down for dinner and overhears his uncle and
the man’s friend, Old Cotter, talking. When they see him, the uncle tells
him that Father Flynn has died. The family watches the boy judge his
reaction, but the boy remains stoic. As his aunt dishes up the meal, the
two men resume their conversation. His uncle says that the priest had
been planning to train the boy to become a priest someday, but Old
Cotter thinks the priest was odd and that young boys should spend more
time with other children their own age. When he is questioned about
what he means by his remark on the priest, Old Cotter doesn’t explain.
The next day the boy and his aunt go to pay their respects at Father
Flynn’s home. The boy remembers learning Latin words from the priest.
He and his aunt kneel at the coffin with Father Flynn’s sister, Nannie to
pray. Later they have sherry and crackers with his other sister, Eliza. The
women discuss the Father. They could tell he was getting sick because of
his odd behaviors, such as dropping the chalice and laughing in the
confessional while alone. The story ends with the women in this
conversation, and the boy quietly listening.

An Encounter
The story begins with a group of boys playing cowboys and Indians. The
games are scripted by the magazines they pass around in the class. Every
time one of the boys, Joe Dillon, wins he does a victory dance. This
happens a lot because he wins a lot. The magazines are contraband for
the boys. One day Father Butler caught Leo Dillon with one of them and
reprimanded him for not reading his Roman texts instead.
The narrator of the story, an unnamed boy, wants a real adventure and
plans a trip to the docks with his friends. Only one of them shows up the
next day for their adventure, Mahony. The two boys start off and are
harassed along the way by some rough boys who call them Protestants.
But, they get passed them and end up at the docks, where they explore
the area.
The boys take a ferry across the river and wander around on the other
side. They purchase a lunch then sit on the bank to enjoy it. Soon an old
man wanders past. But then, he turns around to speak to the boys. He
begins to reminisce about his own childhood. The old man tells them
about the books he used to like to read including books by Lord Lytton,
who wrote science fiction and romances. Then he asks them about
girlfriends and the boys think he’s ridiculous, especially since he kept
repeating that he liked to look at young girls with soft white hands and
soft hair like it was a rote. Finally, the man walked away, and while he
was gone the boys decided not to use their real names, but code names,
Smith and Murphy.
When the old man comes back, he resumes his odd behavior and speech.
Soon Mahony leaps up and starts to chase a stray cat. While he is gone
the old man remarks that Mahony is the kind of boy who gets lots of
‘whippings’ and he would be glad to administer them himself. At that
‘Smith’ leaps up and walks to the top of the hill, there he calls for
‘Murphy’ and the two boys make their escape.

Araby
This is a story of young love. A boy is remembering the games he played
with a neighborhood boy named Mangan. They would run throughout the
abandoned houses and dart from shadow to shadow trying to avoid being
seen by his uncle or Mangan’s sister. But, as time passes the boy tries to
catch glimpses of Mangan’s sister instead of avoiding her. When he sees
her leaving, he walks behind her, then passes her. Although the two
hardly speak, he is always thinking of her. He fears that his feelings are so
intense, he would never have the courage to speak to her.
One morning she asks the boy if he is planning to go to the Araby Bazaar.
She would like to go, but is committed to a class outing. As soon as his
tongue unties, he tells her that he is planning to and asks if he can get her
a present. Now he has something to look forward to and can’t
concentrate on his studies. Finally, on the morning of the Bazaar, he
reminds his uncle to return home in time to give him money to attend.
The boy waits for his uncle anxiously, and when the man does return it is
late. The boy doesn’t arrive at the Bazaar until just before ten at night, as
the Bazaar is about to close. He stops at one of the stalls but doesn’t buy
anything because he feels unwanted by the proprietress who was busy
talking to two young men. Soon the lights began to be turned off, so he
stayed outside feeling anguished and angry.

Eveline
Eveline works many jobs trying to help support her home and her
sometimes abusive father. As she considers leaving with Frank, a sailor
that wants her to marry him and move to Buenos Aires, she remembers
when their family was happy. Days when her mother was still alive and
her brother still lived with them. She also thinks about the promise she
made her mother take care of the home.
At first, her father and Frank were getting along fine, but as their romance
progresses the two men begin to bicker, so she and Frank carry on their
romance in secret. She begins to remember that her father wasn’t always
mean, but the life her mother led is not what she wants. So she plans to
meet Frank at the docks. But, when she gets there, she can’t bring herself
to leave with him, and the ship sails off without her. “Her eyes gave him
no sign of love or farewell or recognition.”

After the Race

This the story of a party after a road race. As the fancy cars drive into
Dublin, the crowd cheers their victory, even though the came in second
and third. Jimmy Doyle is in one of the cars with his friends. One of them
is Charles Segouin, who is starting an auto business that Jimmy has
invested in. There is also a Hungarian pianist named, Villona.
Segouin drops Jimmy off at his house and also drops off Villona, who is
staying with him, so they can change clothes before they go to the party.
After Segouin returns to pick the two men up, they meet their other
friends at the hotel where Segouin is staying. There they are introduced
to an Englishman named, Routh. Jimmy starts to discuss the problems
between the Irish and the English, but, Segouin stops the discourse with a
toast, and opened a window to let out the heat.After dinner, the group
start off down the street, singing and gay, when they come across
another old friend, an American. He invites them all aboard his yacht.
There they play music and drink. Then they start to play cards, and Jimmy
loses a lot of money but doesn’t care. He knows he will be remorseful the
next day, but for now, he was “glad of the dark stupor that would cover
up his folly.”
After dinner, the group start off down the street, singing and gay, when
they come across another old friend, an American. He invites them all
aboard his yacht. There they play music and drink. Then they start to play
cards, and Jimmy loses a lot of money but doesn’t care. He knows he will
be remorseful the next day, but for now, he was “glad of the dark stupor
that would cover up his folly.” The story ends with Jimmy beginning to
sober, and the Hungarian opening the cabin door and shouting
“Daybreak, gentlemen!”

Two Gallants
Lenehan and Corley are walking along the street discussing Corley’s latest
girlfriend. She is a maid at an expensive home and steals cigarettes for
him. Even though he hasn’t told her his name, she will do anything he
asks her to do. He calls her a ‘slavey’. Corley says that he used to spend
money on women and take them out, but that was stupid. The last girl he
took out like that became a prostitute. Lenehan says that was probably
Corley’s fault.
Corley plans to have the maid steal money from the rich house. When
they see her waiting on the street corner, Lenehan walks by like he’s not
involved with Corley, but he indicates that he likes the looks of the maid.
While Corley is wooing the maid, Lenehan spends some time in a pub,
thinking morosely about the life he could have with a home and hearth of
his own. Shaking off his melancholy, Lenehan leaves the pub and finds
Corley and his maid. He follows them discreetly until they stop in front of
a nice house. Corley waits by the gate while the maid runs inside. Soon
she returns and stops in front of Corley where Lenehan can’t see what
she is doing. Then she runs back into the house and Corley starts walking
down the street. Lenehan follows after him and calls his name. After a
couple of calls, Corley stops and reluctantly shows Lenehan the gold coin
in his hand.

The Boarding House

Mrs. Mooney runs a boarding house catering to a variety of people.
Tourists from Liverpool, artists from the Music Hall, but mostly clerks
from downtown offices. “All the resident young men spoke of her as the
Madam.” Having escaped from a bad marriage with an abusive drunk,
Mrs. Mooney had a legal separation allowed by the church. Her abusive
husband had poorly managed the butcher shop left to her by her father,
so she took the money from the sale of the shop and opened a successful
boarding house.
She raised her two children there and they still lived with her. Polly, her
daughter, had had a job as a clerk in town, but Mrs. Mooney asked her to
quit so she could help at the boarding house. Lately, Polly had become
romantically involved with a boarder, Mr. Doran. Mrs. Mooney was aware
of their relationship but was waiting for the right time to make him marry
her daughter.
Mr. Doran is weighing the decision to marry Polly or to run away. He
knows that running would ruin his good reputation, but he doesn’t want
to get married either. Mr. Doran is angry at Mrs. Mooney for not stopping
the affair and is unhappy with the way Polly looks and her uncouth
manners.
Polly comes into his room threatening to kill herself if he doesn’t marry
her, and Mr. Doran remembers her kindness is why he started their affair.
Then he leaves his room to find her mother. While Polly is waiting, she
smugly crawls into his bed. Soon she hears her mother calling her with
the news that Mr. Doran wants to talk to her.

A Little Cloud
Little Chandler (so called because he is a small man) is excited to meet his
old friend, Ignatius Gallaher at the pub for drinks after work. Although
Little Chandler works at a desk all day and goes home to a wife and son
every evening, he sometimes envies his friend who is a journalist and
travels all over the world.
Finally, quitting time arrives and Little Chandler meets his friend. They
reminisce over a few drinks and Little Chandler is a bit put off by his
friend’s rough manner and course speech. When the conversation turns
to marriage, Little Chandler tells Gallaher that he will think differently
about his life when he marries. But, Gallaher assures him that the only
way he would marry is if the woman was rich. Until then he will continue
to play the field around the world.Little Chandler feels obligated to invite
Gallaher to his house to meet his
Little Chandler feels obligated to invite Gallaher to his house to meet his
wife but is relieved when Gallaher turns him down. Later, Little Chandler
is at home. He forgot to bring home coffee, so his wife leaves to get some
and places the sleeping baby in his arms with orders not to wake him.
Little Chandler walks about the room with the sleeping child and notices a
picture of his wife, feeling guilty for the small thoughts he harbored of
another life. By the time his wife returns, the baby is awake and crying.
She scolds Little Chandler and takes the baby back. As the baby’s cries
began to lessen, Little Chandler shed tears of remorse.

Counterparts
Farrington is not a nice man. He has a job in an office but performs it
halfway. Most of his time is spent thinking about his next drink. He sneaks
out during the workday to have a beer in the pub, then returns back to
the office where he has not finished the work assigned to him. After work,
he pawns his watch to get money to drink on and meets some of his
friends. They make an evening of going from pub to pub where Farrington
buys most of the drinks. When he finally reaches his house, he is drunk
and yells for his wife. After discovering from his young son that his wife is
at church, he orders the boy to start the fire and make him something to
eat. The fire has gone out, though, so he begins to beat his son. The story
ends with the boy begging his father to stop hitting him with his walking
stick and offering to say some Hail Mary’s for him.

Clay
It’s Halloween, and Maria, a kind middle-aged woman, is working at a
Protestant shelter for women. She helps to prepare an Irish bread called,
Brambrack for the celebration. Then she leaves to celebrate the holiday
with Joe Donnelly and his family. She used to nurse him and his brother,
but now he has had a falling out with his little brother.
Along the way, Maria buys some little cakes for his children and a plum
cake for him and his wife. She has a conversation with a man on the train,
and when she arrives at the house she has lost the plum cake. Chiding
herself for not paying closer attention, she enters into the games with the
children, while they celebrate Halloween with the neighborhood children.
One of the games involves a lump of clay that she touches while
blindfolded. It is supposed to predict an early death. The mother insists
the children remove the clay and they have Maria play again. This time,
she chooses a prayer book which symbolizes a life in the church. Then she
sings a song that brings Joe to tears.

A Painful Case
Mr. Duffy is a tidy bachelor. His life is orderly and predictable, but once in
awhile, he attends the opera. One night he notices a woman with her
little daughter. On subsequent opera nights, he notices her again, then
begins to plan his opera nights in order to see her. Soon he strikes up a
conversation with her. Mrs. Sinico is married to a captain of a merchant
ship and therefore is lonely quite often.
The two become friends, meeting at her home to discuss politics, books,
music, etc. As their relationship grows closer, she begins to see him as
more than a friend. One evening she places his hand on her cheek. This
leads Mr. Duffy to cut off their relationship. He avoids her then finally
meets her in a neutral location to completely sever their ties. Two years
later he reads her name in the paper. Mrs. Sinico had become an
alcoholic and her relationship with her husband had deteriorated. After a
presumed heart attack, she fell onto the train tracks and was hit by a
train. At first, Mr. Duffy is disgusted with her supposed suicide, but later,
after a drink became melancholy about losing the only woman he would
ever love.

Ivy Day in the Committee Room

Ivy Day is a holiday that observes the death of Charles Stuart Parnell, the
‘uncrowned king’ of Ireland. It is observed on Sunday closest to October
sixth. Since he was a well-known politician, the story is based around a
group of people who have been campaigning for their candidate, Richard
Tierney, a pub owner who is running for the office of Lord Mayor. The
group are tired and are resting in the committee room where they discuss
politics. Some of them suspect spies from the opposing party are among
them. The story ends after one of the men reads a poem about the death
of Parnell.

A Mother
Mrs. Kearney likes things to be done just right. When Mr. Holohan, the
head of the Eire Abu. Or Ireland to Victory wants to hire her daughter to
perform in a concert to raise money, she is not surprised. Kathleen has
studied piano and French in school and has also taken classes in Gaelic.
The girl was contracted for four concerts, but when the first two have a
poor showing, Mrs. Kearney is not happy with the slipshod organizing of
Mr. Holohan and Mr. Fitzpatrick, who is also in charge of the group. The
men suggest canceling the third concert to build up an audience, but Mrs.
Kearney believes the men plan on not paying her daughter for the concert
they canceled.
At the fourth concert, which has a large audience, Mrs. Kearney refuses
to let her daughter perform without payment up front. They pay half at
the beginning of the concert and promise the other half at a later
meeting. The concert goes on, but Mrs. Kearney leaves afterward angry.

Grace
Grace is a story about religion. It covers the fall, conversion, and
redemption. Mr. Kernan has fallen down a flight of stairs and is carried
into a pub. Soon he regains consciousness and leaves with his friend.
When they arrive at his house, the friend discusses the recent downturns
in Mr. Kernan’s life with his wife. He convinces her that the church would
be the answer to his problems. A few days later some of the men from
the church arrive at the Kernan’s home and he tells them that he was
Protestant but converted to Catholicism for his wife. They offer to take
him to meet the priest. Mr. Kernan agrees but refuses to light candles,
because he doesn’t believe in magic.

The Dead
Gabriel Conroy and his wife Greta attend the annual Epiphany dinner and
dance held by his two aunts and their niece. At the party are the usual
group of characters. The drunk, the old man who likes to flirt with young
girls, the piano player who sings, and the angry political person. Gabriel
dances with her, and the woman berates him throughout the dance and
beyond for not being Irish enough. She accuses him of having English
leanings. He becomes angry and gives a toast congratulating his aunts on
the party and asking everyone to let the old dead beliefs rest.
Before he and his wife leave, he notices her listening to one of the guests
singing an Irish ballad. Her melancholy face reminds him of their
courtship. Later at the hotel, he asks her about it and she tells him the
story of a young boy who used to sing the song to her, he died after
waiting outside her window in the cold. After they go to bed, Gabriel
thinks about the snow that is falling on Ireland that night and wonders if
it is falling on the grave of the young boy.