English Litreture Responsibility, Obligation, Suffering and Sacrifice

English Litreture

Responsibility, Obligation, Suffering and Sacrifice in James Joyce's Eveline

Eveline, by James Joyce, tells the story of a young woman with an unhappy life due to the responsibilities placed on her by others, as well as those she has placed on herself. Eveline's life is controlled and constrained by the responsibilities which have created obligations and suffering. Eveline's life has become inescapable, even when she has the chance to run away to Buenos Aires with the man she loves, she finds herself unable to run away from her responsibilities, accepting a life of obligation and suffering. Joyce appears to be showing the reader that responsibility causes suffering, and that despite the feeling of obligations, the suffering is eventually meaningless, bringing nothing but more misery.

Eveline is the story of a women reminiscing and reconsidering her decision to leave Dublin for a new life. Her life has not been happy, even in her childhood her father is portrayed as brutish, hunting his children down with a blackthorn stick when they played in the fields (Joyce 1). This is the past and the melancholy feeling the narrative provides is emphasized by with the accounting of those who have been lost, including her mother and eldest brother Ernest.

The link between responsibility, obligation and suffering is seen with Eveline's mother before she dies. Eveline remembers her father and the beating he gave to his children, but also remembers he was not as bad when her mother was alive. The responsibilities and obligations of motherhood are vast, and Joyce may be alluding to the mother tempering the fathers' behavior, possible by providing another outlet for his frustrations, alternatively, the presence of the love and protection of a mother may have lessened the impact, especially when examined in hindsight. The responsibility of her as both a wife and a mother, running the house and looking after those around her appear to have had a negative impact as Joyce describes her life as one live where "commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness" (Joyce 3). As Eveline was now the women of the house there would be a natural progression for her to take on the responsibilities of her mother. However, this responsibility was not only taken on, it was placed on her; before dying her other died she had made Eveline promise she would keep the family together as long as possible. This promise now haunted Eveline as she considered leaving Dublin and her family.

Eveline had suffered to hold the family together, she had gone out to work, and all her wages were handed over to her father, she was treated poorly, verbally abused and threatened in the name her dead mother. She was making the everyday sacrifices her mother had made, but she had been fulfilling the obligation associated with her responsibility, despite the unhappiness she suffered.

The chance of escape and happiness emerged when meeting Frank; she had fallen in love and had the chance to move away; getting as far as the ship that would carry her to a new country. But the suffering continues, she faces emotional turmoil, knowing she is leaving behind her responsibilities and walking away from her obligations. This turmoil is seen with the use of a metaphor "All the seas of the world tumbled about her heart. He [Frank] was drawing her into them: he would drown her" (Joyce 3). Now Eveline is torn, she is paralyzed by a past which she cannot let go and drawn back to the familiar suffering. If she does leave it is apparent that the turmoil she feels will cause a new kind of suffering; guilt for leaving behind her family and putting herself first, and breaking the promise made to her family. Her decision is to stay; it is taken with an empty heart in which there is resigned acceptance of her life of suffering and the additional sacrifice of loosing the love of her life and a potentially happy life abroad. Eveline is left alone, and it can only be assumed she will return to her fathers house, continue working for the wages she hand over and continue to make the ongoing everyday sacrifices, just as her mother did before her. But now, following Franks departure, one can only assume that the suffering will be greater as there has been a major sacrifice; Eveline has sacrificed her own happiness to continue to fulfill her obligations. She has gained nothing from this sacrifice; her life will not get better, her father will never appreciate the sacrifice and nothing has changed, the sacrifice may be argued as meaningless as it has achieved nothing, and Eveline may face a similar fate to her mother.