Why don't you give up, or rather, take the safer option?
#late_scribble #fear #rationalizing #eveline
Giving up can be phrased differently, such as compromising, yielding. While these point to the same thing, they each have different connotations.
In the Eveline by James Joyce, Eveline dreams of escaping Ireland to go to Buenos Aires with her love. Her hate for her sluggish father has triggered her thought of leaving the house. The opportunity to break away from her past was given from a sailor named Frank, where she could have just left with ease. However, even though it was her life goal, in the end, she did not take his hand; she decided to linger in her past.
Often, choosing a new path requires not only the courage to face new challenges but the courage to let go of the past. We can see that Eveline’s care for the children and her family, even though her father didn’t treat good for her, had impaired her to start a new life. It was the common things of her life that had impeded her: the sound of street organs, the promise from her mother…
However, in this case, I believe that it wasn’t the courage to overcome the past that was lacking, but the courage to face the new world. It felt like she was rationalizing and hiding her fear of facing a new life with the reasons in the past. From the fact that she had already finished her letters, we know that she once had made a decision to leave the past behind. Everything was fine until that final step. However, she wasn’t brave enough to make that final choice. The fear to face an unknown life had made her give up, compromise, yield her promising life to the fear that she had once overcome.
Rationalizing is one of the most amazing things that us humans can do. With it, we can justify our actions and be happy about whatever we do. In fact, I do it quite a lot too. Even now, postponing the upload of this post, I was rationalizing with the reason of ‘perfecting’ writing. My mind will put reasons that I could think of, while it was just my laziness that had created these results. Life is facing a series of choices. Instead of giving up a new life, you have the option to take the safer option. It’s just the state of lingering in the past that is helpless and sad.
Giving up can be phrased differently, such as compromising, yielding. While these point to the same thing, they each have different connotations.
In the Eveline by James Joyce, Eveline dreams of escaping Ireland to go to Buenos Aires with her love. Her hate for her sluggish father has triggered her thought of leaving the house. The opportunity to break away from her past was given from a sailor named Frank, where she could have just left with ease. However, even though it was her life goal, in the end, she did not take his hand; she decided to linger in her past.
Often, choosing a new path requires not only the courage to face new challenges but the courage to let go of the past. We can see that Eveline’s care for the children and her family, even though her father didn’t treat good for her, had impaired her to start a new life. It was the common things of her life that had impeded her: the sound of street organs, the promise from her mother…
However, in this case, I believe that it wasn’t the courage to overcome the past that was lacking, but the courage to face the new world. It felt like she was rationalizing and hiding her fear of facing a new life with the reasons in the past. From the fact that she had already finished her letters, we know that she once had made a decision to leave the past behind. Everything was fine until that final step. However, she wasn’t brave enough to make that final choice. The fear to face an unknown life had made her give up, compromise, yield her promising life to the fear that she had once overcome.
Rationalizing is one of the most amazing things that us humans can do. With it, we can justify our actions and be happy about whatever we do. In fact, I do it quite a lot too. Even now, postponing the upload of this post, I was rationalizing with the reason of ‘perfecting’ writing. My mind will put reasons that I could think of, while it was just my laziness that had created these results. Life is facing a series of choices. Instead of giving up a new life, you have the option to take the safer option. It’s just the state of lingering in the past that is helpless and sad.
Good post. Balanced on all fronts be they personal view and connection or the nitty gritty of academic investigation into the BS (though I don't think there's a lot in Dubliners to begin with - its actually really and legitimately good). It's interesting how Eveline knew all along that she'd never leave (deep deep deep in the back of her mind) but did everything she needed to do to prepare (other than leaving). So many instances of this occur (like you said) - everything from weddings to bungee jumping. Good tone and readability in this post.
답글삭제