Irish People and Father Flynn

In align to answer the broad question, the term chance whollyow be crushd in the context of the book of factss of the texts and in the possibility for their personal growth and opportunity for deepen, be it spiritual, physical or emotional. The essay leave alone focus thematically on four chosen texts James Joyces The Sisters and Langston Hughes poems I, too, New Yorkers and Harlem. Firstly this essay will analyse how the metropolis of Dublin represented in The Sisters is shown, through Joyces literary devices, to both(prenominal) offer and throttle possibility for each of its central characters.Key divisions identified will then be used as a basis for further depth psychology of how these themes are more widely represented within the selected New York poems to every confirm or refute Lehans statement that The city both offers and detainricts possibility. Textual analysis of The Sisters reveals numerous literary devices that explicate the theme of the repression of possi bility by the city of its people.Throughout, Joyce uses symbolism, metaphors, and ellipsis to emphasise his themes whilst allowing the proofreader to infer its meanings without the need to describe them explicitly. The italicised words paralysis, gnomon and simony (page 1) is hotshot such technique and at one time underscores the physical, spiritual and religious restrictions found within the figment that Dub forcers symbolises as a paralysis (p1) of the city and its people.The storys young, intelligent, and sensitive (unnamed) protagonist comes to experience first-hand the reality of paralysis and death he achieves his desire to ensure upon (p1) both the physical paralysis and death of Father Flynn, with whom he was great friends (p2) and the more subtle mental paralysis of those well-nigh him his Aunt, Uncle Jack, Eliza and Nanny Flynn and Mr Cotter. The story shows that the Dublin adults are mentally immobilised metaphorically paralysed, by their conformation to the conv entions of their city lives, for them, the beliefs of the Irish church is a given.Eliza, Cotter and the church men consider Flynn and not the church to be the cause of his predicament the duties of the non-Christian priesthood was too often for him (p9). They appear unable to acknowledge the truth of a priest nearly smothitherd (p4) by his understanding of the demands of his and their- church. The perceptive boy, finds the adults surrounding him tiresome (p1) and notices how Nannie Flynns dodge was hooked clumsily (p6).His judgemental and sometimes precocious style seems at times somewhat harsh the gray-headed womans mutterings distracted me (p6) and his character obviously reflects the conscientious nature of Father Flynn. The friendship mingled with this fatherless boy and the priest also offered heavy possibilities for growth to our protagonist, he was taught a great come upon out (p2) such as how to pronounce Latin properly, t white-haired stories about Napoleon Bonap arte and was questioned until he could make no answer (p6).This education, when contrasted to the principle of education described by his Uncle as a cold bathing tub (p2), is something that, without Father Flynn, the boy might not commence had access to. The question of whether, in the sensation of emancipation from (p4)Flynns death, the boy takes up this possibility for change or succumbs to the paralysis caused by the restrictions of the city is one which Joyce leaves unanswered. In the case of Father Flynn the city of Dublin both offered and restricted possibility.From a lower screen out upbringing in Irishtown (p9) Flynn was able to travel to, and be educated in, the Irish college in Rome (p5). only once he returned to the city and took up his post, he became the disappointed (p9), Father Flynn who was paralysed by his too scrupulous (p9) nature. Perhaps this is a reference to the potentially paralysing psychological disorder scrupulosity which would explain his nervous (p1 0) disposition and his failed attempts to fulfill his office represented by the symbolic chalice that contained nothing (p9) and the idle chalice (p10) he broadly speaking retained (p6) in death.The storys namesakes, the Flynn sisters, were perhaps the most restricted by their Dublin lives. Flynns economically and socially imp everywhereished siblings lived with him in the unassuming shop, registered under the vague name of Drapery (p3) have been forced to line up the debilitating legacy of a truculent (p6) defector whose fortunes once took him to college in Rome. Their neediness of education becomes apparent through Elizas malapropisms freemans General(p8) and rheumatic wheels (p9) and the fact they persevere unmarried is made clear through the address of Miss Flynn (p8).The sacrifices the sisters made for their cronys spiritedness history within the Irish church, is clearly represented by the symbolic confabulation of sherry and cream crackers when they receive the boy an d his Aunt into the death-room, all highlight the sacrifices they have made. Joyce does not veil his opinion that the Catholic church building is responsible for a large portion of Dubliners paralysis of will and also hints at other malefactor England. The death notice on the door of the shop on Great Britain Street (p3) states that the priest died on 1st July 1895.This betrothal coincides with the Battle of the Boyne (1690) in which Catholic supporters of James II were defeat by William III in a defeat that brought death to the Irish hopes for national and religious freedom. (Walzl, 1965, p45) . The date is also that of the Feast of the Most Precious Blood which is symbolic of Father Flynn, his strokes, the broken chalice and the communion served in the death-room. This analysis has demonstrated a number of themes in The Sisters that restrict (paralyse) the possibility of its characters growth, and fewer that exhibit the offering.The paralysis of its characters resolution for c hange, caused by the restrictions of the city, is a theme that is also echoed throughout the rest of Dubliners. Joyce presents the city as an ever present channel of poverty and inaction (p. 35) which often leads to a life of commonplace sacrifices closing in concluding craziness (p. 33). Trapped by poverty and political and religious repression, Joyces citizens cannot summonthe hope or energy that Gallaherfrom A Little Cloud did, to revolt against the dull inelegance of the city (p. 68). However, Joyces portrait of Dublin is not entirely bleak.Joyce could simply have condemned Dublin, asGallaherdoes, or followed the example of Duffy, who, in A Painful Case, seeks refuge in brittle, lonely seclusion. still Joyce chose the more challenging course of confronting and judge the loss of the dear in dear, dirty Dublin. (p70) The citys ability to supress its citizens hope of, or will to change, is something that it is clear, the paralysed characters of The Sisters had experienced, and it is this theme that this essay will now explore further, in an attempt to draw conclusions as to the hardness of Lehans statement.The chosen Langston Hughes poems I, too, Harlem and New Yorkers display continuity of the theme of paralysis through the restriction of a city on its citizens although in differing ways and to differing extents. Langston Hughes poem, I, too, is a poem whose main character is in accomplish contrast to the those of Joyce. Hughes positions the readers to feel the emotions of guilt and sympathy by applying his personal narration and allows the readers to recognise the inequality of the darker brother who is sent to eat in the kitchen /when company comes (lines 3-4).The isolation of the darker brother, his presence an embarrassment to the people around him, serves to anger and motivate his determination for change that is so differing to that of Joyces Dublin characters. When he ironically states, But I laugh,/And eat well,/ And grow strong (5-7) the voca lizer is making clear his determination to utilise raze the worst situation as an opportunity for growth. Hughes use of humour and irony demonstrates this positivity and certainty of change for the future which is in complete contrast to that of Joyces characters.The physical symmetry of the anthem- similar poem centres around the line tomorrow (8) and seems to gain momentum and passion, as he defiantly promises white America that he will not be spoken for Tomorrow, /Ill be at the table/ when company comes. / nobodyll resist say to me,/ eat in the kitchen theyll see how beautiful I am (8-16). Hughes positions the reader to feel both sympathy and admiration in the statement, and be ashamed (17).The word beautiful seemingly symbolises both the speakers skin colour and his cultural heritage, his pride demonstrating that he does not want to change himself so the city will accept him, but for the white city to awake from its own paralysis and to actively accept change by valuing their separate and distinctive black culture, establishing that he, acting as a model for the rest of his culture, is as part of the city as I he too am is America (18).The theme of paralysis is also present in Hughes poem Harlem albeit in different way to that of I, too. The speakers tone of disdain towards the city is instantly clear through the powerful imagery of it being find on the edge of hell (line 1). This is then compounded by the frequent punctuation and repetition of old (3-5), successfully portraying the tedium and hopelessness that it is clear the speaker feels about the situation.The narrative uses the term we suggesting that, equal I, too, that the speaker is not just speaking as himself but acting as a phonate for a wider, black culture. When he speaks of the price increase of sugar, bread and the new tax on cigarettes (11) he suggests political repression, when he speaks of the job they never could get/and cant have now/Because were coloured (13-15) he displays his embitterment towards the city and its reluctance to change. The feeling of hopelessness is carried through to the end of the poem, We remember. a solemn statement echoing the remembering of old lies (5) from the beginning and accurately portraying the sense of time passed over which they have been patient (5) despite what they told us before (5). The sense of hopelessness present within the speaker, and by association the African-American culture, is one that Hughes is suggesting has been gradually attained through their sacrifices for, and repression by, the city in which they live, much like that of Joyces Dublin upon his characters.The third poem which this essay will use to explore the validity of Lehans statement is that of New Yorkers. The first stanza opens introducing the male character as that of a native New Yorker I was born here (line 1), the internal rhyme of thats no lie, he said/right here beneath Gods sky (2-3) draws attention to the apparent need to reassure the fe male character that he was telling the truth, the implication being that they had been subject to front dishonesty.If, like in Hughes other 2 poems we assume that each voice represents the voice of their particular cultures we can infer a deeper meaning to the previous statement that the female voice who wasnt born here (4) represents the new immigrants, the statement therefore seemingly echoing the old lies seen in Hughes Harlem that promised of break-dance possibilities. where I come from/folks work hard/all their lives/ until they die/ and never own no parts/of earth nor sky(6-11) Hughes draws attention to her belief of the better possibilities that the city would offer and the fact that they were misguided, by his use f her believing she could own a piece of music of sky (11). The repetition of the word also serves to demonstrate the similarities between the sky of the place from which the immigrant originates and that of the citys despite her initial beliefs that the city w ould offer more Now whatve I got? (13). The following declaration of mania You (14) acts to convey that an unexpected possibility for emotional growth has been offered. However the hint of irony in the final line The same old spark perhaps implies that she has closed her mind to her original dreams of expanding possibilities, for what might be a temporary flame. In conclusion, Hughes poems, like The Sisters, all indicate the offering of, and restrictions on, the possibilities within a city and therefore confirm Lehans statement. Both authors, upon first glance, seemingly highlight more restrictions than opportunities. It is important to remember however, that as each city changes, so do the opportunities and restrictions offered, and at the time of writing, both cities were in a period of dramatic change, to which there is always resistance.At the conclusion of The Sisters we are left wondering how much of a characters plight is due to the citys restrictions Joyce so specifically illuminates, and how much is due to benignant qualities that transcend environment. Perhaps the lesson in both Joyces and Hughes work, is that a city is made up of private characters, and as long as its individuals remain backward-facing, without hope and closed to change, they will be paralysed from seeing the possibilities that the city has to offer them.Word Count 2186 Bibliography A230 Assignment Guide,( 2010) TMA 04, pass around University press Bremen, B (1984) He Was Too Scrupulous everlastingly A Re-Examination of Joyces The Sisters James Joyce Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 1 pp. 55-66 Haslam, S & Asbee, S (2012) The Twentieth Century, Twentieth-Century Cities, Open University wish Haslam, S & Asbee, S (2012) The Twentieth Century, Readings for part 1, Open University Press James Joyce (2000 1914) Dubliners (with an introduction and notes by Terence Brown), Penguin Modern Classics, London, Penguin. Walzl, F (1965) The life chronology of the Dubliners , James Joyce Quart erley Websites A230-11J, Study Guide Week 26 Extra Resources, Milton Keynes, The Open University, http//learn. open. ac. uk/file. php/7066/ebook_a230_book3_pt1_chpt4_langston-hughes-poetry_l3. pdf (accessed 21st March 2012) http//us. penguingroup. com/static/rguides/us/dubliners. html