Eveline is a short story written by James Joyce. It is included into the collection entitled Dubliners.
The first sequence is an introductory paragraph that covers the first three lines of the short story. The sequence is aimed at giving the reader the first impressions about Dublin, the city where the story takes place, through Eveline's eyes and mind: she feels Dublin as a threat as showed by the word "invade" referred to the evening. Every word in the sequence has the function to convey the idea of concreteness to the reader: he can see, smell, hear and touch the world around Eveline. In addition, right from the start, Eveline is perceived by the reader as inactive and paralysed in contrast with the world outside.
The following sequence is linked to the first one because it continues the description of Dublin as seen outside Eveline's window, but the silence of the first sequence is broken by the footsteps. Eveline's attention shift to her childhood: she goes back to what she was used to do when she was young. Her memories seem to be covered by shade, everything seems to be grey in her mind. Expressions such as "every evening" want to convey the idea of routine in Eveline's life since she was young to highlight her paralysis in front of novelty. In addition the irruption of a foreigner from Belfast, who built houses to replace fields, demonstrates Eveline's narrow-mindedness in front of changes once again: she seems to miss fields because they remember her childhood. In addition, Joyce's symbolic realism colours the roofs of the houses are red, the colour of the blood and the only colour in the whole scene, because they destroyed Eveline's certainties.
In the third sequence the narrator underlines Eveline's paralysis once again, using her stream of consciousness. Eveline looks around and realises what she is going to leave: many memories and familiar objects. It follows that she starts wondering if it is the right choice. She reflects on her condition at home and at her workplace without reaching a conclusion about what she truly wants to do: she is worried by the change even if the marriage seems to be a good choice for her because she would not feel threatened by her father any longer. The contrast in her mind is displayed by the expression "In her home anyway she had shelter and food; she had those whom she had know all her life about her" that are aimed at justifying her inability to act, even if she has to face difficult situations both at home and at her workplace. She does not give any positive judgement about the future, but she just reflects on what she is going to leave: the new passes through the old.
Then Eveline describes her ideas about her future life: "People would treat her with respect then"; her words show she is slave of other people's thoughts about her. Nevertheless, the "distant and unknown" country seems to be as menacing as her father.
The following sequence is aimed at describing Eveline's attitude towards her father. She feels threaten by him, in particular since she had left alone because of the death of her mother, of her brother Ernest and her brother Harry's absence. Then comes to her mind the quarrel for money on Saturday. The quarrel is not important for the development of the story, but it is an excuse to introduce the hard situation in which Eveline has to live: she has to keep the family together alone, nobody helps her. Nevertheless, the most important aspect highlighted by the sequence is Eveline's insecurity about her will as showed by her sentence "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".
Afterwards Eveline's thoughts shift to Frank. Joyce uses the words "She was about to explore another life" to convey the idea of the exploration of a forest where she does not know what she may found. She remembers the first time she met him. The memory is still vivid in her mind ("It seemed few weeks ago"), she remembers every story he told her about his voyages. Right from the first lines of the description, Frank's personality appears in contrast with Eveline's one: while she is tied to her life and her house, Frank is a sailor, he has to travel. Nevertheless, he seems to be what Eveline is looking for and they love each other to the point that they meet secretly because Eveline's father do not stand Frank.
The following section begins describing the evening again: it is "deepened" in the avenue that means a lot of time has gone and the use of the verb to deepen suggest the idea of the world that weighs on Eveline's shoulders. The view of two letters in Eveline's lap leads her thinking about her father again. He is described from another point of view; he seems more human and nice because of words such as "was becoming old" and "he would miss her".
Once again the world outside is described. The narrator uses the same words of the first line to demonstrate that everything is paralysed and motionless. Nevertheless, there is something new in the air: the sound of an organ. The music, that is the same she heard when her mother died, recalls to her mind that she promised to her mother she would keep the family together the last day of her illness. The sequence signalled a shift from the calm of the first part of the story to the anxiety of the second. Eveline hears her mother shouting in her mind; the voice creates the impulse to escape and Frank seems to be the only one who can help her to forget the unhappiness of her life and become happy far away from home.
The scene shifts from Eveline's house to the port of Dublin. The port is described using terms to underline the monotony: "swaying crowd...over and over again...full of soldiers...black mass of the boat". Eveline is going to leave Dublin with Frank, but she is not sure of what she truly wants as showed by the reaction of her body "she felt her cheek pale and cold...her distress awoke a nausea in her body". She prays God to direct her, following Irish religious tradition. The world around her collapses when she decided not to leave "All the seas of the world tumbled". Her body seems to prevent her from leaving Dublin "She gripped with both hands at the iron railing", unlike Frank who rushes beyond the barrier of the ship. The short story ends with Eveline looks passive at Frank without giving him any sign.