One of my favorite stories in Dubliners was Eveline. Although I had read Dubliners in high school, and selections of it in college, rereading Dubliners in Dublin was one of the experiences that go beyond the scope of their literary confinements. Eveline is 19. At 19, on the cusp of adulthood and responsibility, we all have a momentary control over our lives that we will never see again. Eveline's choices are clear: she can stay with her abusive, demanding family, or leave them behind and explore the world with Frank. It's a sad piece, you can hear the guilt echoing painfully in the narrative.
At the end, Eveline doesn't get on the boat with Frank and their final encounter has an impersonal coldness. Although I believe she never really loved Frank, she knew he was offering her the one chance she would have to find happiness. I feel like she was never going to get on the boat. As I read, it seemed to me that for a few moments, she needed to pretend she was escaping as compensation for a lifetime of suffering ahead. It was the idea she was in love with, but at the end was never a real possibility.
In terms of the ongoing idea of landscape, Eveline illustrated the worst case scenario: when we are trapped by our landscape. Dublin, her home, was a prison more than a welcoming haven. Her father abused her and she was unappreciated at work. Yet despite having nothing to look forward to, she stayed in the city. She let the landscape control her.
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