Short Works Edit

              James Joyce uses a passive tone in the beginning of the text in order to make obvious the everyday struggle that is Eveline’s life during and before the story takes place. Joyce uses this to paint the picture of her conflict with happiness and all the obstacles in her way, specifically her father. This in turn makes the reader feel bad for Eveline and it shows the reader how Eveline may react to certain situations. For example when Joyce writes, “Still they seemed to be rather happy then. Her father was not so bad then; and besides, her mother was still alive. That was a long time ago; she and her brothers and sisters were all grown up; her mother was dead. Tizzie Dunn was dead, too, and the Walters had gone back to England” (Joyce 20). The passage is narrated passively, showing that she, in turn, is a passive person. The narrator goes on to talk about how Eveline has one of her friends be lookout for when her father would “often come to hunt them in out of the field with his blackthorn stick” (Joyce 20) which further proves that she is a passive person, even as a child, because she lets someone else guard her fate; rather than looking for her father herself, she had her friend stand watch, thus letting herself not take action until it was necessary, in that case, running from her father when her friend called out. Had she taken action and not been passive, her battle for happiness could have been made easier.

James Joyce, the author of Eveline, uses passive tone at the beginning of the text in order to make obvious the everyday struggle that Eveline must cope with.  Before the story takes place, Joyce uses this literary device to paint the picture of her conflict with happiness and her father. In turn, making the reader feel empathetic towards Eveline. For example when Joyce writes, “still they seemed to be rather happy then. Her father was not so bad then; and besides, her mother was still alive (Joyce 20 it shows that Eveline is a submissive person, because of the use of passive tone. The narrator goes on to talk about how one of Eveline’s friends looks out to see if her father would “come to hunt them in out of the field with his blackthorn stick,” (Joyce 20) which further proves that she is a passive person. Even as a child, Eveline would let someone else guard her fate. Rather than looking for her father herself, she had her friend stand watch, leading her to return to your own ways. Had she taken action and not been passive, her battle with happiness could have been more easily accomplished.