A Message of Awareness :: Essays Papers

A Message of Awareness James Joyce’s book Dubliners, is composed of several intriguing short stories. Joyce’s main emphasis is to send a â€Å"wake up call† to the people of Dublin about the appalling conditions of Ireland. In a letter to his publisher Joyce tells him that he â€Å"seriously [believes] that [the publisher] will retard the course of civilization in Ireland by preventing the Irish people from having one good look at themselves in my nicely polished looking-glass† (qtd. in Beja 33). Joyce proves his assertion through his use of characters and situations in the short stories â€Å"The Boarding House,† â€Å"A Little Cloud,† and â€Å"The Dead.† In addition, autonomy and responsibility play a major role of how the characters act and react to certain situations that connect to the hard times of Ireland. In Dubliners, characters often face situations that are portrayed as â€Å"light and dark.† In â€Å"The Boarding House,† Mrs. Mooney’s actions and interactions are primarily portrayed as being manipulative. She is a â€Å"dark† person and Joyce uses examples to support this. Joyce describes Mrs. Mooney as a person that is stern and is â€Å"all business.† Mrs. Mooney’s characteristics imply that she is someone to fear. In addition, Mrs. Mooney’s boarding house is run with much order. Joyce states that Mrs. Mooney â€Å"governed her house cunningly and firmly, knew when to give credit, when to be stern and when to let things pass,† which a viewer can acknowledge that Mrs. Mooney is a â€Å"dark† and fierce women when it comes down to taking actions on others (56). Furthermore, Mrs. Mooney has such a stern and superior control over the tenants that Joyce states that the â€Å"young men spoke of her as The madam,† which means a lady of respect (57). They know that Mrs. Mooney is one lady to be feared. In â€Å"The Boarding House,† Mr. Doran’s actions with Polly caused him to be fearful of Mrs. Mooney. Joyce explains how Mr. Doran’s feelings about receiving consequences from Mrs. Mooney are â€Å"dark.† Joyce exaggerates the depth of Mr. Doran’s nervousness towards receiving his sanctions were so fierce that â€Å"he felt his heart leap [†¦] in his throat† (61). Mr. Doran’s actions are so fearful that he acts as if he is being tried for murder. Mr. Doran’s fears of the consequences are so â€Å"dark† that He longed to ascend through the roof [of the Boarding House] and fly away to another country where he would never hear again of his trouble.