Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors
used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
Windows
Windows in Dubliners consistently evoke
the anticipation of events or encounters that are about to happen.
For example, the narrator in “The Sisters” looks into a window each
night, waiting for signs of Father Flynn’s death, and the narrator
in “Araby” watches from his parlor window for the appearance of
Mangan’s sister. The suspense for these young boys centers in that
space separating the interior life from the exterior life. Windows
also mark the threshold between domestic space and the outside world,
and through them the characters in Dubliners observe
their own lives as well as the lives of others. Both Eveline and
Gabriel turn to windows when they reflect on their own situations,
both of which center on the relationship between the individual
and the individual’s place in a larger context.
Dusk and Nighttime
Joyce’s Dublin is perpetually dark. No streams of sunlight
or cheery landscapes illuminate these stories. Instead, a spectrum
of grey and black underscores their somber tone. Characters walk
through Dublin at dusk, an in-between time that hovers between the
activity of day and the stillness of night, and live their most
profound moments in the darkness of late hours. These dark backdrops
evoke the half-life or in-between state the characters in Dubliners occupy, both
physically and emotionally, suggesting the intermingling of life and
d
eath that marks every story. In this state, life
can exist and proceed, but the darkness renders Dubliners’ experiences
dire and doomed.
Food
Nearly all of the characters in Dubliners eat
or drink, and in most cases food serves as a reminder of both the
threatening dullness of routine and the joys and difficulties of
togetherness. In “A Painful Case,” Mr. Duffy’s solitary, duplicated
meals are finally interrupted by the shocking newspaper article
that reports Mrs. Sinico’s death. This interruption makes him realize
that his habits isolate him from the love and happiness of “life’s
feast.” The party meal in “The Dead” might evoke conviviality, but
the rigid order of the rich table instead suggests military battle.
In “Two Gallants,” Lenehan’s quiet meal of peas and ginger beer
allows him to dwell on his self-absorbed life, so lacking in meaningful
relationships and security, while the constant imbibing in “After
the Race” fuels Jimmy’s attempts to convince himself he belongs
with his upper-class companions. Food in Dubliners allows
Joyce to portray his characters and their experiences through a
substance that both sustains life yet also symbolizes its restraints.
