Bondage, Paralysis And Alienation:On The Symbolic Meaning Of Representative Images In Dubliners

This thesis focuses on the prominent Irish writer James Joyce’s first and the only short story collection Dubliners, which is usually regarded as a great realistic work.As the work created in the early period of James Joyce’s literature life, it not only combines traditional and new literary conceptions, but also serves as a crucial attempt to pursue the innovation of literary experiment.After a detailed analysis of the short stories in Dubliners and careful studies on the diverse images and their symbolic meaning, this thesis intends to claim how Joyce creates a dirty, bare and paralytic Dublin. Besides, through a careful investigation into the creation background of Joyce, it aims to find out how Joyce clarifies his intention of criticizing the paralysis and awakening the national awareness of Dubliners. Finally,this thesis attempts to interpret how Joyce breaks through the traditional realist literature writing style and to reveal the emergence of modernist features in the realist work and its effect on reinforcing the theme.