Eveline

Paralyzed Fate

In James Joyce's "Eveline," a young woman living in Dublin is having a difficult time deciding whether she wants to run away with her love, Frank. Frank appears to offer Eveline a loving home and a better lifestyle with him in Buenos Aires. He offers her a life that contrasts to the one that she currently lives. She is unhappy with her job, having conflicts with her supervisor, who is very hard on her. She is unhappy at home because her father does not help her with her financial difficulties. Despite her discontent with her current lifestyle, she lacks the strength to make the decision to leave because of her father's abuse towards her, her promise to her mother, and her fear of leaving the only place she has ever known to be: home.

First, her father has always been abusive. When she was a child, her father would chase the neighborhood children out of the field near their home. As they grew older, her father would beat her younger brothers. He would also threaten her and tell her what he would do to her if it was not for her dead mother. Presently in the story, her father takes all of her wages and does not allow her to use any of it for herself. He dislikes Frank and forbids her from seeing him. This has left her feeling unprotected and powerless over her own life.

Secondly, she made a promise to her mother as her mother was on her death bed. She promised her mother that she would take care of her two younger brothers as well as their home. She had worked hard after her mother died, getting her brothers to attend school on a regular basis. She also worked hard making sure that they always had meals to eat. She worked hard to keep the house clean and the household together. Now that everyone else has left, she is reluctant to leave. She believes that if she were to leave her home now, she would be breaking the promise she had made to her mother.