dubliners

DublinersThe novel Dubliners is written by an Irish writer James Joyce who is so called the greatest writer in the 20th century. It is a collection of 15 short stories, firstly published in 1914. These 15 pieces full of symbolism form a naturalistic depiction of Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early years of the 20th century. After finishing reading this extraordinary novel, I should say that I am not completely y understanding. Still, I want to write down some of my opinions about it for me to rethink and memorize better.Firstly, I would like to say something about the author who started his literary life by creating Dubliners. Back to the time when Joyce was born, Dublin was one of the colonies of England where wars happened continuously and people suffered a lot. His father kept the faith of nationalism and his mother was a devout Catholic. Young Joyce was talent and favored by father. Thus, the family gave him money to buy books while the others were starved. Finally he lived up to expectations with great achievements.Following, I want to share some information that I found on the Internet related with the book. The stories were written when Irish nationalism was at its peak and a search for a national identity and purpose was raging; at a crossroads of history and culture, Ireland was jolted by various converging ideas and influences. They center on Joyce's idea of an epiphany which means a moment where a character experiences self-understanding or illumination.The book's publishing history is a harrowing tale of persistence in the face of frustration. Between 1905, when Joyce first sent a manuscript to a publisher, and 1914, when the book was finally published, Joyce submitted the book 18 times to a total of 15 publishers.Last of all, I am going to choose one story which I was most impressed by among those to make a statement. The story ‘The Dead’contains a symbolic meaning and mainly tells that: On the night of the Morkan sisters' annual dance and dinner, Aunt Julia and Aunt Kate were hosting guests from everywhere include their nephew Gabriel who was a man of literature and writing. During the party, Gabrielmade a speech to praise for his aunts. At the same night, Gabriel felt his strong love towards his wife who was drained in the sadness bringing by the death of her lover and would rather be unresponsive. Gabriel was heartbroken and thought about death when he saw the falling snow which covered every land of Irish. In fact, Gabriel is forced to consider whether it is better to die young, when emotion and time diminish weakness; or die old, when the threat of error grows more with every year. It's a question of being remembered, and Gabriel may seem to find himself wishing he were gone. ‘The Dea d’ is the final short story in the 1914 collection Dubliners by James Joyce. It is the longest story in the collection and is often considered the best of Joyce's shorter works. At 15,672 words it has also been considered a novella.The symbolic meaning of ‘The Death’ first appeared through the great snow on Christmas night. The snow appeared constantly in real world as well as the subconscious mind of Gabriel and reminded readers of humanitarian concern. The snow covered everything and wiped off all the conflicts. When Gabriel felt jealous and uneasy about the past of his wife, he suddenly noticed that the modern Dublin, Irish and even the whole Europe were declining. He was hoping that one day this city and this whole land could awaken after the snow. I think this deep thinking under the plot of the novel might be the theme which the author wants to convey. Generally speaking, death is the termination of all; it is changing from existence to inexistence. However, the theme of ‘The Death’ is superior to the general meaning. Joyce wants to explicate a profound aesthetic significance by through the biological definition of death. Though the unique Irish culture which has been sunk in sleep for so long is still under the great pressure of the powerful English culture, it is not far from awakening. The great snow on Christmas night means the renaissance of Irish culture. With the dying of romantic Irish, winter of the modern Irish will pass soon; spring will be no more far behind.In Dubliners Joyce rarely uses hyperbole, relying on simplicity and close detail to create a realistic setting. This ties the reader's understanding of people to their environments. He does not tell readers what to think; rather they are left to come to their own conclusions. This is even more evident when contrasted with the moraljudgments displayed by earlier writers such as Charles Dickens. This frequently leads to a lack of traditional dramatic resolution within the stories. It has been argued that Joyce often allows his narrative voice to gravitate towards the voice of a textual character. For example, the opening line of 'The Dead' reads "Lily, the caretaker's daughter, was literally run off her feet." She is not, in this instance, "literally" run off her feet, and neither would Joyce have thought so; rather, the narrative lends itself to a misuse of language typical of the character being described.The collection as a whole displays an overall plan, beginning with stories of youth and progressing in age to culminate in The Dead. Great emphasis is laid upon the specific geographic details of Dublin, details to which a reader with knowledge of the area would be able to directly relate. The multiple perspectives presented throughout the collection serve to contrast the characters in Dublin at this time. In Dubliners, Joyce tells 15 individual stories but organized them by the order of the growing process of a man, reveals the situation of Irish at that time. Those stories come from the normal life which is close to us and thus bring us in-depth reflection. After finishing the whole book, I must confirm that I have a new awareness toward my life. Novels have the powerful to influence people not only in ideological way but also in spiritual way.。