Blog #3

Eveline by James Joyce

This short story depicts the troubling choice Eveline has to make between staying with what she is accustom to or choosing a life of adventure and new opportunities. Eveline has lived in the same place her entire life, taking over her mother's position after she passed away. Eveline initially feels that she deserves to be happy; therefore, she plans to run away with her lover, Frank. After reexamining her surrounding though, Eveline begins to second guess her decision. I think Eveline is making the mistakes that so many people do when looking at the past. Instead of recalling previous events as they actually occurred,  people tend to think of the past as a much happier time, whether this is actually accurate or not. In Eveline's case, I believe the she is simply fooling herself into believing that her life really hasn't been that bad and that there is no real reason why she should abandon her family. The speaker states, "It was hard work- a hard life- but now that she was about to leave it she did no find it a wholly undesirable life," (Joyce, 220). Here, readers can see the clear doubt Eveline is facing. She is tricking herself into believing that her life really hasn't been that bad, or at least is doable. Regardless, Eveline plans to leave anyway, but freezes up at the last minute, leaving Frank to board the ship while she remains motionless. In that moment, readers can assume that Eveline is giving up her chance to live an out of the ordinary life, and instead is settling to live the typical lifestyle of a woman at the time.