Title: The Sisters

Characters:

- The boy, that is the narrator                                                                                                            - James Flynn, the priest                                                                                                               - Nannie and Eliza Flynn, sisters of the priest                                                                         - Aunt and uncle of the boy

Plot

The story “The sisters” is the first story of the collection The Dubliners. It follows that the title creates some expectations in the reader about the possible themes and argues that will be affronted in the story. In particular in “The Sisters” the narrator focuses his attention in the relationship between a nameless boy and the priest James Flynn who was the point of reference for the boy in the clerical duties. The story starts with the contemplation of the boy about James Flynn's illness and imminent death. Later, while the boy is at dinner, his aunt and  his uncle refer to the boy  the priest’s death. The conversation focuses on the figure of the priest and on his relationship with the boy. During the following night, the nameless boy is disturbed by dreams concerning of the priest and so he doesn’t sleep in a good way. The day after, the curiosity induces the boy to go to look at the announcement that the priest is died. It follows that the priest’s death is confirmed and so the boy continued his day with thoughts and memories about the day he passed with the priest. That night the boy and his aunt go to the house of the priest. They view Flynn’s body and the priest’s sister, Nannie. During this visit they dialogued with the sisters Eliza and Nannie: from these discussions emerge that the priest was affected by mental problems) this problem was caused by a breaking of a chalice.

Narrative techniques

During the story “The Sisters” the narrator sometimes uses the technique of flashback. In particular Joyce provided to explain some events or actions happened during the past. It follows that we can reconstruct the priest’s characterization and the reader can know the most relevant aspects of his life. During these flashbacks, the priest is shown as an intellectual priest that had a strong religious vocation. But this behavior is totally different from the mundane daily routine of being a parish priest and this brings the priest to be illness.

Denotative analysis

Concerning the boy’s point of view, I notice that it changes during the story. While in the first part the boy looks to the priest as a figure of reference, in the following part, and in particular in the final part, his behavior is different. It seems as if he wants to take distances from this figure and the priest is seen as a bad example from which the boy must be preserved.                    Referring to the title, it is interesting that Joyce puts at the centre of the attention the two priest’s sisters and not the priest or the boy, that is the main character of the story. In my opinion Joyce gives importance in the figures of the two sisters because they have an important role in these events: they are the only people that know the true essence of the priest.