"1984" post one

“In the vast majority of cases there was no trial, no report of the arrest. People simply disappeared, always during the night. Your name was removed from the registers, every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out, your one-time existence was denied and then forgotten. You were abolished, annihilated: vaporized was the usual word.”
These few lines in the beginning chapter of “1984” by George Orwell, reveal many conflicts and foreshadows where the plot will venture. George Orwell displays how complex and foreign society has become and how the government has become completely demented and lost sight of its true purpose. The government has changed all of their original laws and become a dictatorship under “Big Brother.” The fact that the “police” come and kidnap “criminals” during the night illustrates the conflict of man vs. society. Because of this, the people are too scared disagree with the government so they conform and allow their government to destroy their rights and liberties.
This segment unearths the reader’s question if the main character, Winston Smith, will be faithful to the government. When Winston describes what happens when a person rebels, he is also weighing in his own mind if he would be willing to risk this. The threat of the history of your existence puts a heavy pressure on the people but also sets the plot in motion. The denotation of a diary is to preserve your current history and document events in a person’s life. The fact that his existence could be “vaporized” by writing in a diary is extremely ironic.
Therefore, George Orwell describes what happens to rebels to emphasize the corrupt ideas of the government and the people’s inability to do anything about it. He foreshadows what will happen to Winston now that he has begun writing a diary. The contradictory events of Winston writing in his diary to preserve his history and the government obliterating his history for writing in a diary are extremely ironic and hence display how the rest of the story will be ironic. Orwell begins explaining that any conflict between man and government will be ironic and contradictory because the government is corrupt and unjust.

"Counterparts"

“The bell rand furiously and, when Miss Parker went to the tube a furious voice called out in a piercing North of Ireland accent: -Send Farrington here!”

These first few lines in the short story, “Counterparts” by James Joyce, defined the mood for the rest of the article. The repetition of the word “furious” demonstrates how the atmosphere is currently tense and that the reader is about to get into a tight situation. Since Farrington’s boss calls him in angry and “furious” it will cause Farrington to have an apparent anger about his character for the rest of the story. The author’s diction of the word “piercing” shows the intensity of the upcoming situation because of the harsh sounds in the word. This diction builds up the mood of the story throughout the text. Additionally, the inclination of the phrase “North of Ireland accent” demonstrates the author’s use of imagery. The author intended for the reader to pay special attention to the sentence so they could picture how the rest of the story would sound. This introductory imagery confirms a basis for the reader so they can picture the scene in their minds.
The first sentence also helps foreshadow upcoming events. Since the mood is already very tense, the reader can foreshadow that the character will also be very tense and that this pressure will cause something incredibly bad to happen. Mr. Farrington holds in his agitation and frustration by continuing to drink until he comes home and beats his little boy. Also, the appearance of a lady, Miss Parker, in the chaotic tension of the first sentence brings an air of innocence to the sentence. Since a woman in present, she helps soften the mood slightly and foreshadows that something unjust will happen to an innocent being. Mr. Farrington’s child in the story was pure and he was the innocence the first sentence was foreshadowing.
Therefore, James Joyce illustrates many important literary devices just in the first sentence. He does this so the reader can build up to the ending and use these clues to understand the characters and the plot in a more efficient manner.

"The Boarding House"

“She sang: ‘I’m a naughty girl. You needn’t sham: you know I am.”

These lines are a very important aspect of the short story, “The Boarding House,” by James Joyce. The author used these lines to characterize Polly Mooney as promiscuous and childish. She sings these lines from a famous song but the fact that she sings these specific lines shows that she is either incredibly oblivious to what she is saying or she is intentionally making it seem like she is open. The reader will understand immediately that she has been with many men and acts immature around others for attention.
It is also ironic that James Joyce chooses these lines from the song to show that Polly sings often. The irony of they lyrics and Polly’s behavior emphasizes to the reader her immorality and unfavorable actions. When the Joyce first introduces Polly as a character and the reader reads these lines, they will immediately foreshadow that something terrible will come from Polly’s unrestricted behavior.
Joyce wishes the reader to dislike Polly so eventually at first so throughout the story they can begin to sympathize with her and somehow relate to her. Most people tend to dislike others because of something they do which ends up relating to a part of themselves. Since Polly acts juvenile and dissolute, Joyce demonstrates the theme that we all act foolish sometimes but we only realize this when we have come of age. The reader can relate to Polly because they realize that they had once acted this way and are able to sympathize with her at the end because they can feel her pain.

"Two Gallants"

“One night, man,” he said, “I was going along Dame Street and I spotted a fine tart under Waterhouse’s clock and said good-night, you know. So we went for a walk round by the canal and she told me she was a slavey in a house in Baggot Street. I put my arm round her and squeezed her a bit that night. Then next Sunday, man, I met her by appointment. We went out to Donnybrook and I brought her into a field there. She told me she used to go with a dairyman…It was fine, man. Cigarettes every night she’d bring me and paying the tram out and back. And one night she brought me two bloody fine cigars- O, the real cheese, you know, that the old fellow used to smoke… I was afraid, man, she’d get in the family way. But she’s up to the dodge.”
“Maybe she thinks you’ll marry her,” said Lenehan.
“I told her I was out of a job,” said Corley. “I told her I was in Pim’s. She doesn’t know my name. I was too hairy to tell her that. But she thinks I’m a bit of class you know.”

The author’s tone in this segment helps show the characterization of the two main individuals and foreshadows how each character will act in a situation later in the story. James Joyce wants the readers to feel negatively towards the men since Corley speaks so disrespectfully about women and since he explains his actions to be unbecoming and inconsiderate. In this portion of the story, both men speak about women in a negative tone and both say vulgar statements. But since Corley thinks his actions can be justified he is automatically categorized as someone who will not show any sort of change in personality at the end of the story. However, Lenehan’s character is slightly more composed and modest compared to Corley; being more understanding and when he tries to relate to what the woman in question was thinking. This personality trait shows that Lenehan is more genuine that Corley and later in the story we find out that he is just the opposite of his companion.
When Lenehan is left by Corley to wander the streets for several hours, we learn a lot more about what is inside Lenehan’s mind and how he truly feels towards life. He explains how he has anxiety about finding true friends and how he wants to settle down. According to the quote, Corley expresses no desire to get married or to buy a house of his own but in the text we discover that Lenehan seems to hide his true feelings towards adulthood around his so called “friends.” This double personality when he is alone or with his friends makes Lenehan’s character very complex since the reader does not know which is personality can best define him. When the reader is on a more intimate level with Lenehan when Joyce reveals some of the questions he asks himself about friends or his future, the reader is more sympathetic towards Lenehan and wonders who this new personality is.
James Joyce also tells an allegory in “ The Two Gallants” which involves conformity and friendship. In the beginning of the story Lenehan walks with Corley discussing women, pretending to agree and be his friend. The author compares this to society and the social latter saying how sometimes unique individuals will try to fit in with others by clinging to a more likeable individual. Those who are trying to conform act very similar to the society based individual and they do not voice their own opinions or say any of their ideas. When Lenehan is alone and left with his own thoughts, he fantasizes about the “adventures Corley will be having” instead of having his own fun and adventures. This is typical behavior to someone who is trying to fit in with others who are not like them. Lenehan makes it clear he wants to get married and have a home of his own, but since Corley does not want to do this, Lenehan does not pursue his aspirations. Joyce tries to convey to the reader that a person’s true dreams can only be found when you are not surrounded by society’s influence. Corley is a symbolic character for our ugly conformed society and Lenehan is the individual who wants to question society’s motives and do things his way. Lenehan begins to panic slightly and becomes more anxious, this is because is he finally thinking in a nonconformist perspective. Unfortunately, when Lenehan rushes back to Corley, he also rushes back to his obedient life as a person who follows society’s every wish and whim. Although it was only for a brief while, Joyce wants the reader to question our society and daily lives just as Lenehan questioned his future.

"Eveline"

In the short story, "Eveline" by James Joyce, the narrator, Eveline, debates whether or not she wants to run away with her lover, Frank, to live in Buenos Ayres. When he tells her to come along onto the boat she realizes that, "All the seas of the world tumbled about her heart. He was drawing her into them: he would drown her. She gripped with both hands at the iron railing." This statement shows how the author uses irony to demonstrate Eveline's internal struggles. In the beginning of the story, the mood was dark and depressed and the narrator described her family life to be like a prison. As she spoke about Frank, he became the one hope for Eveline and the only escape route from having the same fate as her mother, death. Now that Eveline is staring at her final decision to have a new life, she realizes that it would be a mistake to go with him and her guilt overwhelms her heart. Earlier in the passage, she states her realization that her father would miss her, despite his cruelty and her fear of his violence; she would feel bad leaving him. This is ironic considering up till now all Eveline was thinking about was her new journey with Frank and how adventurous and amazing it was going to be.

It is interesting that the author writes that the seas “would drown her” and Frank would be “drawing her into them,” this diction exposes Eveline’s fears of the future with Frank as being similar to her father’s past actions. Just before Eveline makes this connection Frank says to her to “come” as if she were an animal. Frank’s shift in his tone changes the reader’s attitude towards Frank to be skeptical; this was Joyce’s way to trigger Eveline’s epiphany. The imagery Joyce uses to describe how Eveline was holding the railing symbolizes her clenching onto her last strands of dignity. She did not want to go with him because she did not want to leave to get herself into the same situation; which was exactly what the author wanted the reader to predict would happen. The quote makes a large contribution to the story as a whole since it is used as a turning point in the plot and contradicts most of the reader’s insights.

"An Encounter"

In the story, "An Encounter" by James Joyce, the two main characters come across a strange man during their journey for adventure and excitement. The narrator of the story reveals that he is frightened by this man through various references in the text to obsessive behavior. After Mohony returns, the speaker describes Mohony's running as "He ran as if to bring me aid." The narrator also states that, "...for in my heart I had always despised him a little." The only reason Mohony would have to bring the narrator aid is because of the old man. This then demonstrates that Mohony had understood the unusual characteristics the man was displaying which prompted him to nonchalantly distract himself so he could be away from the old man. When he left, the narrator felt defenseless and alone because his companion abandoned him. The narrator channeled that panic on Mohony and revealed to the reader that he did not like Mohony’s personality. The language used intensifies the tone of the narrator when he says he “despised him” as opposed to disliked him. The use of such a strong word as despised confirms that the narrator has an opposite personality than Mohony and that they must disagree often.
When the narrator realizes that Mohony “runs as if to bring aid,” he realizes that Mohony had known that the man was strange the entire time and did not tell or ask the narrator to come along with him to leave the man. This exposes the question of: why would a friend leave when their comrade is in or near danger? This discovery reveals a lot about the narrator and Mohony’s character. Since the author wrote “for in my heart” it shows that the narrator is one who will not confront problems and who sometimes denies the truth. Earlier in the text the narrator had turned down a fight and advised Mohony not to fight either, which further exhibits that the narrator is not confrontational. During the last two lines in the reading, the reader is asking themselves why Mohony had seemed to intentionally leave the narrator alone with the man. Earlier on in the story, Mohony brings a catapult to shoot at birds and tries to start fights with kids. These ruthless actions are examples of how the character does not care for other beings and therefore could not care about the narrator’s safety. The fact that the narrator had secretly disliked Mohony and Mohony did not care about the narrator reveals that there is an unspoken tension between the two characters. This can let the reader infer that there had been a previous disagreement between the two or that the author is foreshadowing a possible argument. Therefore, the quotation at the end of this story enhances the character’s personalities and exposes the untold relationship between the two main characters.

"The Sisters"

In the story "The Sisters," in the novel "The Dubliners" by James Joyce, one of the sisters speaks to the narrator and her aunt about a deceased priest they have been taking care of. The sister describes some memories of the priest, Father James Flynn, and about when he first started acting strange. "It was that chalice he broke," she remembers, "that was the beginning of it." A chalice is a cup that the communion wine is held and it is ironic that a priest would break a cup that holds "the blood of Christ." Although the chalice had nothing in it, it is suppose to contain the Holy Spirit and since Father Flynn dropped it, he subconsciously dropped his faith in God. In the story, it says that James felt guilty for dropping something that symbolizes Christ and that is so important to his faith. Due to Father Flynn's regret he began wandering around by himself and sneaking into the church at night, which demonstrates that James did not consciously intend to drop the chalice. Since he dropped the chalice, it symbolizes that he unconsciously no longer had faith in God and that his life-long occupation no longer seemed to have a foundation. Earlier in the novel, the main character has a flashback to when Father Flynn was explaining to her the Catholic faith and tried to get her to become more interested in her religion. Since James did not consciously believe in God this scene seems to have contradicted its purpose to the story, which demonstrates the irony of a priest unconsciously losing his faith. Therefore, the quote in this scene tells us that the author's intentions for the reader was to reconsider their attitudes of the priest from being dependable and trustworthy to being skeptical and deceitful.