The Freedom of Choices :: Essays Papers

The Freedom of Choices James Joyce was born in Dublin on February 2, 1882 (Joyce i). In 1914, Dubliners, a work that illustrated the lives of the people of Dublin, from Joyces view range, hit the shelves (Joyce i). The book consists of 15 short stories all about the people of Dublin. There are umpteen different themes thought these short stories but one that is very primal to the book is the theme of turning away. The book also lends itself to a philosophical point of view taking on many other themes such as the theme of autonomy and right. Three stories that these themes can be seen in are An Encounter, Counterparts, and The Dead. In these stories Joyce depicts many of the characters as people attempting to escape their responsibilities through the creams they pose in their own lives. One responsibleness that is neglected throughout these stories is the righteousness characters have to each other. In the story An Encounter, although only two b oys escape their responsibilities at school, there was a third that was supposed to tag along (14). The other two boys, the narrator and Mahony, made the decision to leave social lion behind and venture off on their quest to the Pigeon House. Joyce offers a choice to these boys in attempts to show the audience that they will choose to give notice their responsibility to Leo. The two friends use their freedom making the choice that they are press release to leave the bridge without their third companion, Leo. Another example of characters disregarding their responsibility to one other(prenominal) occurs when the two boys meet the old man in the field. Instead of staying with his friend Mahony leaves the narrator by himself ignoring his responsibility to be a good friend and stick together. These choices exemplify the way that characters in these stories ignore their responsibilities to other people. A second example of a character ignoring her responsibilities to another character occurs within the story The Dead. At the end of the story The Dead, the subscriber feels sympathetic with Gabriel, the main character, because he finds out his wife loved another man.