The Moral Paralysis In James Joyce's Dubliners

James Joyce, the master who writes with the technique of the stream of consciousness, is the greatest writer in the twentieth century. His works exert profound influence on Modern literature and occupy an important position in the development of Western literature. Dubliners, a collection of short stories, is the early work of James Joyce. The fifteen stories that set in Dublin, the capital of Ireland, emphasize a common theme, that is, the paralyzed and static state of spirit that pervading the whole society of Ireland at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century.In this thesis, one of the most important themes of Dubliners—paralysis—is being explored and expounded with concrete examples and personal analysis. As the title—Moral Paralysis in James Joyce's Dubliners—is suggested, the thesis discusses from four aspects the theme of paralysis: paralysis in religion, paralysis in politics, paralysis in emotion and paralysis in psyche. And there are also subdivisions under each part of analysis: simony as a performance of paralysis in religion; betrayal, corruption, and the gratefully oppressed to underlie paralysis in politics; unfulfillment of love, imprisonment of marriage and incapability of communion constituting paralysis in emotion; perversion and inertia as an conclusive part endowing the thesis a perfect ending. These four divisions interrelate with one another, conveying an important phase of Joycean theme. In the thesis, Dubliners, the information about James Joyce and some background information relevant to the understanding of Dubliners are introduced thoroughly to acquire an overall and detailed knowledge of the collection.