Learning Paths » 5A Interacting
VLugnan-5a- Eveline's paralysis
by - (2012-01-26)
Up to 5 A - Modernist Fiction: V. Woolf and J. Joyce
Eveline's paralysis
The character of the short story, Eveline, seems affected by paralysis. It is not a physical one, but an inability to act. It is possible to understand it from her thoughts: at the beginning she considers the possibility of setting out with Frank, but she is full of doubts, insomuch as she decides to surrender and stay at home.
The reason is that she does not want to change her life, she is frightened by a transformation. The travel with Frank means leave her home, leave her habits, leave the place where she has grown up. Therefore it means begin a new life, starting from something which is unknown. To manage it, courage is necessary: everybody is afraid of what he does not know, because it is something out of control.
As a consequence Eveline wants to carry on her life, even if she has to bear her father's violence. It follows that she prefers paralysis to change.
But her paralysis does not only shine through the plot, even through the language used. First of all there are questions about her decision of leaving, such as "Was that wise?" (line 33). It demonstrates that she is not sure.
Secondly her homesick is seen, before setting of : "Perhaps she would never see again those familiar objects from which she had never dreamed of being divided" (lines 24-25), "It was hard work-- a hard life, but now that she was about to leave it she did not find it a wholly undesirable life" (lines 70-72).