Spiritual Paralysis In James Joyce's Dubliners

The stories in Dubliners portray Joyce's feeling that Dublin is the epitome of paralysis and all of the citizens are victims. Although each story from Dubliners is a unique and separate depiction, they all have similarities with each other. Paralysis, a living death or total anesthesia of the spirit, seems to be the existential condition of people in Dubliners and its crux. After repeated readings of this book, the author of this thesis thinks that a literary study of the age groups of childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age would better illustrate the spiritual paralysis that pervades all people through all stages of life in Dubliners. As a result, in this thesis, the attention will be directed to how spiritual paralysis is presented through the four age groups with different techniques and different sub-themes in different stories to expose the different manifestations of spiritual paralysis.Chapter One discusses the influence of British colonial domination upon the Dublin society and family influence upon James Joyce, which contributed to Joyce's view of spiritual paralysis in Dubliners. Chapter Two analyzes the spiritual paralysis in the age group of childhood. These children are ignorant and imprisoned in their own city Dublin. Chapter Three examines the spiritual paralysis in the age group of adolescence. The heroes and heroines are aimless in their attitude toward life and are doomed to defeat. Chapter Four illustrates the spiritual paralysis in the age group of adulthood. These characters are powerless when facing troubles in life and isolated from society and from each other spiritually. Chapter Five discusses the spiritual paralysis in the age group of old age. The protagonists feel very lonely and could do nothing to change their lives but live resignedly.Spiritual paralysis is a global symptom widely existing in thepost-colonial society. The exposure of this modern mental disease would give a more truthful self-awareness to the modern people and would do good to the modern society.