Love Blog Post #2

Eveline by James Joyce

2. What in Eveline's present circumstances makes it desirable for her to escape her home? Characterize her father and Miss Gavan, her supervisor. What does the memory of her mother contribute to her decision to leave?

 Eveline lives with her father and helps him around the house. He is abusive and causes her to have palpitations. Also, Eveline's mother is dead. She has two brothers, Harry and Ernest. Ernest was dead and Harry was never around so Eveline has no one to protect her from her father's brutality. Her father seems to me to be sort of misunderstood and angry. He loves his daughter and doesn't want anything bad to happen to her, but he still takes all of his anger out on her. I believe he wants to protect her because he says, "I know these sailor chaps" (Joyce 220). To me, this seems like he knows something and he wants her to stay away from it so he forbids her to see him. The memory of her mother makes her quickly decide to leave with Frank. I think she remembers that her mother died unhappy and she suddenly thinks she needs to be happy and that she actually has the right to be happy. This sudden realization causes Eveline to get up and leave and try to go find a happier life with Frank. I don't get, however, why she doesn't go. The ending didn't make sense to me. I think that when it says that she felt no love and her expressions had no love in them, that maybe she realized she didn't love Frank and that he could give her a better life, but she wouldn't love him.