The Darkness and Lightness of Choices :: Essays Papers

The Darkness and Lightness of Choices James Joyce has used his writing of Dubliners to clearly represent the aspects of the real life happenings in Ireland. In his writings, he uses many techniques that allow his audience to find constant themes. In stories such as â€Å"A Little Cloud† and â€Å"The Dead† these themes allow the audience to grasp Joyce’s reasoning and hard message to the Irish people. In Joyce’s Dubliners the light and darkness of the story reflects choices made by the characters. In â€Å"A Little Cloud†, the main character, Little Chandler, chooses to have a wife, and lead a responsible, family oriented life. This is a distinct reflection of a â€Å"light† in his life. â€Å"A little lamp with a white china shade stood upon the table and its light fell over a photograph which was enclosed in a frame of crumpled horn.† (78) Joyce uses the concept of light, when images of Little Chandler’s wife are present in the story. This is another symbolic message presented by Joyce. â€Å"Why had he married the eyes in the photograph?†( 78). The idea of family is important to Chandler, but he begins to question its value upon a visit from his old friend. Like in many other stories by Joyce, light represents something important and good that go hand in hand with the choices made. In this narration, the wife represents a life of success, a success that is achieved through responsible decisions and dedication. In a similar instance, the wife in â€Å"The Dead† also represents similar ideas. Even though Gretta had had a rocky past and demonstrates darkness, her choice to marry Gabriel is another image of light. During the process of the story, many secrets from the past are revealed about Gretta’s past. After listening to the songs of the evening Gretta’s character is portrayed as a very sad women. There was grace and mystery in her attitude as if she were a symbol of something. He asked himself what is a woman standing on the stairs in the shadow, listening to distant music, a symbol of.