?Eveline? By James Joyce Essay, Research Paper

Eveline

In the short story “Eveline,” James Joyce gives Eveline an exciting chance to leave her old life and begin a new one. But she rejects this offer by choosing between Frank and Fate, she preferred instead to settle back into the lousy life she had known all her life. Why doesn’t she leave with Frank when she had great opportunity by forgetting the horror that she went through?

Eveline had been raised as a Catholic, and it was very difficult for her not to keep a promise of her dead mother. It wasn’t right of her mother to ask her daughter to sacrifice herself. We know that Eveline will always be haunted by that promise, but we didn’t expect her to give up her life for this.

We certainly know that Eveline wanted to leave her abusive, bad-tempered, heavy drunken father. Her father was taken advantage of his daughter’s promise, and that promise forcing her to keep the house for her father. He had so frightened her with threats of beating her. Eveline realized that with her brothers gone, there is no one who can protect her from her father. To leave her father would be a great idea for her, but that promise killing her.

Eveline’s home life was so unhealthy, despite all the chores she performed in her house; she still didn’t feel comfortable there. The dustiness of the house, which Joyce always reminds us in the story, told us that the dust made her sufficed all the time and made her sick and tire of this town and her life. Eventhough she had many reasons to leave her town, she still preferred to stay with her lousy father.

The main reason why Eveline didn’t leave Ireland, because she was afraid of unknown and taking risks which she wasn’t prepared to deal with that in her future. She chose to leave her wonderful man Frank who can give everything she desires. But instead she chose to stay in this horrible town with her father and with her promise, which she made to her mother. By staying in this town it will always remind her of what kind of mistake she made by not choosing to leave with Frank.

Eveline was afraid of failing on her own. She was scared that she might explore another life with a great person like frank who was willing to give her his life. Eveline was telling herself that living with her father might not be so bad or risky than unknown life with Frank. Eveline was so frightened that she might not succeed in her future life, which overrides her fear of her father. One thing that she didn’t understood was that her life will always be abusive and she will always be afraid of her father. But she made her decision by not leaving a last person of her family member.