- Aug 2018
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The smile passed away from Gabriel’s face. A dull anger began to gather again at the back of his mind and the dull fires of his lust began to glow angrily in his veins
There seems to be a lot of sharp turns in the mood of the main characters in the story; not long ago Gabriel had been "trembling with delight at her sudden kiss", I wonder if we could see such a pattern of highs followed by significant lows by doing a sentiment analysis on the stories in Dubliners. On the other hand, Gabriel strongly reminds me of Mr. Hammond in Mansfield's The Stranger, as his solicitude, anxiety regarding women, and overprotected-ness of his wife is emphasized several times throughout this story, and in the end a dead man also drives the wedge between the couple.
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Aunt Julia was an inch or so the taller. Her hair, drawn low over the tops of her ears, was grey; and grey also, with darker shadows, was her large flaccid face. Though she was stout in build and stood erect, her slow eyes and parted lips gave her the appearance of a woman who did not know where she was or where she was going. Aunt Kate was more vivacious. Her face, healthier than her sister’s, was all puckers and creases, like a shrivelled red apple, and her hair, braided in the same old-fashioned way, had not lost its ripe nut colour.
Joyce uses a lot of adjectives to describe the physical features of the characters such as Lily, Aunt Julia, Aunt Kate, and Freddy, so I thought of building sentence trees to see how these descriptions are modified. However I think this may be difficult considering most of these descriptions use pronouns instead of the names.
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No memory of the past touched him, for his mind was full of a present joy.
There's a quick (and almost absurd) change in mood where just in the previous paragraph he was sad when thinking about life; I'm guessing that there will be a fairly steep slope here if we do a sentiment analysis.
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He had simply taken advantage of Polly’s youth and inexperience: that was evident.
I'm reminded of a short story called "The First Incense" by Chinese writer Eileen Chang, which speaks of a romantic affair between a playboy and a innocent schoolgirl living at her aunt's house, similarly, the male character was persuaded to take responsibility and marry the girl. I guess that in "The Boarding House" Mr. Doran will agree to marry Polly due to the weight of social opinion, but he will never truly love her, and it will be an unhappy and severely unbalanced relationship.
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He had money and he was popular; and he divided his time curiously between musical and motoring circles.
The use of vocabulary here is really intriguing; what does the author mean by dividing time "curiously"? Is it describing the nature of Jimmy's motive in engaging in these activities? Or does the author/reader find the concurrence of "music" and "motors" curiously weird?
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At the crest of the hill at Inchicore sightseers had gathered in clumps to watch the cars careering homeward and through this channel of poverty and inaction the Continent sped its wealth and industry.
There is double meaning to the car race, in which the competitors are aiming for fame and wealth, but also the entire nation is looking towards an industrialized economy that is expected to bring prosperity and help the people get rid of poverty. Furthermore, it foreshadows the main character's joining his wealthy friend's social circles.
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- Jul 2018
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The Abbot, by Walter Scott, The Devout Communicant and The Memoirs of Vidocq. I liked the last best because its leaves were yellow.
I'm puzzled by this statement and seemingly absurd reason. Why does the narrator like The Memoirs of Vidocq, a book about a master criminal and detective, the best, and because "it's leaves were yellow"?Perhaps because it was more interesting and more thrilling than the religious books that were considered more proper but was old and was flipped open less often?
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She was to go away with him by the night-boat to be his wife and to live with him in Buenos Ayres
The etymology of the word is interesting; I checked the internet and there is a city called Buenos Ayres in Trinidad and Tobago, but I'm assuming that here it is the alternative spelling of Buenos Aires; so what is the author's intention of spelling it this way?
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But now it sounded to me like the name of some maleficent and sinful being. It filled me with fear, and yet I longed to be nearer to it and to look upon its deadly work.
Paralysis here has been personificated into a "maleficent and sinful being", but its deadliness draws the narrator to it despite the fear invoked, serving as a motif similar to the shivering sand in The Moonstone.
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In the dark of my room I imagined that I saw again the heavy grey face of the paralytic. I drew the blankets over my head and tried to think of Christmas. But the grey face still followed me. It murmured; and I understood that it desired to confess something.
The story starts sort of in media res; we know someone is dying, but the narrator only refers to the sick person with male pronouns, and it is until the conversation with the boy's uncle do we know that Father Flynn is dead. Even here, the narrator still speaks of the deceased man using "the paralytic" or a synecdoche such as "the grey face", as if the man's identity is more of the impression he has left in the minds of the other people and the "sins" he committed, and less of a vivid character.
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Down, down went the little old spider, and then, to his horror, old Mr. Neave saw him slip past the dining-room and make for the porch, the dark drive, the carriage gates, the office. Stop him, stop him, somebody!
Here in this stream of consciousness, Mr. Neave seems to have disassociated from his own identity and is seeing "another self" in the imagery of an old spider, walking alone down the stairs, leaving the house unnoticed, and distancing himself from the family, while his true self can only watch on helplessly.
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“Mrs. John Hammond!” He gave a long sigh of content and leaned back, crossing his arms. The strain was over. He felt he could have sat there for ever sighing his relief—the relief at being rid of that horrible tug, pull, grip on his heart. The danger was over. That was the feeling. They were on dry land again. But at that moment Janey’s head came round the corner.
It's so possesive of Mr. Hammond (and even a bit sick) that his feelings of "relief", "safety", and finally not lurching in the sea come from seeing the labels written "Mrs. John Hammond", and from this it can also be inferred that his anxiety when waiting for the ship to dock also originated from this "worry of losing her (heart) to something/someone". However in the next sentence, "but" implies a twist to his emotions again.
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“long before that you’ll be sitting up there on the stage, looking on, in your nice black velvet. And these pretty arms will have turned into little short fat ones, and you’ll beat time with such a different kind of fan—a black bony one.” The fat man seemed to shudder. “And you’ll smile away like the poor old dears up there, and point to your daughter, and tell the elderly lady next to you how some dreadful man tried to kiss her at the club ball. And your heart will ache, ache”
A lot of Katherine Mansfield's stories seem to discuss the conflict between maturity and youthfulness of women, whether it's juxtaposing the delight and pain of a girl growing up or the male characters fantasizing women as young girls.
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“I’m going to rescue your wife, selfish man. She’s like an exquisite little Titania”
Moira refers to A Midsummer Night's Dream here, metaphorically indicating that William is the "selfish" King Oberon while Isabel is proud, beautiful, and compassionate Titania. But from another perspective, it can be interpreted that Isabel is more interested in socializing with her friends than spending time with her husband, if not to the extent of having extramarital affairs. But it also seems kind of ironic since despite estrangement between William and Isabel, they had never had direct conflict as the fairy king and queen did.
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“I always thought those letters in divorce cases were made up. But they pale before this.”
Can it be hinting that William and Isabel may one day face divorce? Or will they make peace and restore their love for each other as Oberon and Titania did? (Though I find the latter less likely)
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“Oh, shut up, mother,” said she wearily. “Come along. Don’t talk so much. And your bag’s open; you’ll be losing all your money again.”
"you'll be losing all your money again" seems to have double meanings: indicating that money might fall out of or be stolen from an open bag, yet can also be interpreted that Mrs. Raddick often goes to the casino and loses her money in gambling.
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“Gran! Gran!” Her little grandson stood on her lap in his button boots. He’d just come in from playing in the street. “Look what a state you’ve made your gran’s skirt into—you wicked boy!” But he put his arms round her neck and rubbed his cheek against hers. “Gran, gi’ us a penny!” he coaxed. “Be off with you; Gran ain’t got no pennies.” “Yes, you ‘ave.” “No, I ain’t.” “Yes, you ‘ave. Gi’ us one!” Already she was feeling for the old, squashed, black leather purse. “Well, what’ll you give your gran?” He gave a shy little laugh and pressed closer. She felt his eyelid quivering against her cheek. “I ain’t got nothing,” he murmured...
Interludes of Ma Parker's memory and current events are linked by ellipses to form a montage of a story.
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"A week since father died, A week since father died," cried the barrel-organ.
The song and cry of the barrel-organ are given human-traits, reflecting what the girls were having in mind.
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Kate knelt and burst open the sideboard, lifted the lid of the jam-pot, saw it was empty, put it on the table, and stalked off.
Even though "stalk" can also be interpreted as expression of irritation or impatience, the verb calls to mind more of the walk of an animal, most likely a cat. Looking back to the previous paragraph, the reader can almost imagine "proud, young" Kate as a Siamese cat, in comparison to the girls as tabbies. Earlier in the story Josephine visualizes Con and herself in black gowns and slippers as black cats crawling at night, and Con also displays an interest and concern for the "mice". These feline characteristics throughout the story can perhaps be considered motifs.
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Josephine got very red when this happened, and she fastened her small, bead-like eyes on the tablecloth as if she saw a minute strange insect creeping through the web of it. But Constantia’s long, pale face lengthened and set, and she gazed away—away—far over the desert, to where that line of camels unwound like a thread of wool...
The girls advert their attention to something else to restrain from their annoyance at Nurse Andrews, but there is a contrast to the entities they turn to: the table close up right before them versus the faraway, imagined desert, and the tiny insect versus a line of large mammalian camels.
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Don’t be so extravagant.
Is terminating a party extravagant or going to large extents to hold a party for the upper class when a man just died outside the gate extravagant? It seems ironic here.
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Really, it was very tactless of father...
Another case of dramatic irony here, when Mrs. Sheridan and the other girls seem to be the ones who are "tactless", ignoring and being insensitive to the suffering taking place around them.
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"This Life is Wee-ary, A Tear—a Sigh. A Love that Chan-ges, This Life is Wee-ary, A Tear—a Sigh. A Love that Chan-ges, And then... Good-bye!"
I think this song can be considered a motif of the story, but it also seems ironic that Joe sings "This Life is Weary" with a "mournful" and "enigmatic" expression when she had never experienced the true weariness of leading a poor life and never had to undergo the toils of labour.
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“My dear!” trilled Kitty Maitland
The author implements zoomorphism, using the sound of birds to describe how the characters talk: Jose "cooed" liked a dove, Kitty Maitland "trilled" like a warbler, and "'Tuk-tuk-tuk,' clucked cook like an agitated hen." The author also uses a lot of adverbs to modify other verbs, such as "oily", "meaningly", "fondly", etc, I think we could run a parts of speech analysis on the contrast of ways of behaviour between characters from the Sheridan household and the village.
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There, raised high on a throne–seated on his typical antelope, with his four arms stretching towards the four corners of the earth–there, soared above us, dark and awful in the mystic light of heaven, the god of the Moon. And there, in the forehead of the deity, gleamed the yellow Diamond, whose splendour had last shone on me in England, from the bosom of a woman’s dress!
It seems that instead of directly describing the Moonstone's beauty with elaboration, it is more often profiled through other people's reactions to it, the greed invoked by its value, and where it once stood - the dagger, Rachel's dress, the Indian cabinet, and the forehead of the Moon god, leaving the rest of the picture to the reader's imagination.
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I propose to tell you–in the first place–what is known of the manner in which your cousin met his death; appending to the statement such inferences and conclusions as we are justified (according to my opinion) in drawing from the facts. I shall then endeavour–in the second place–to put you in possession of such discoveries as I have made, respecting the proceedings of Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite, before, during and after the time, when you and he met as guests at the late Lady Verinder’s country-house.
Cuff speaks with clear reasoning and logic, giving the main points before diving into the details, which in this sense in more similar to Mr. Bruff's narrative, compared to the other characters (and somehow their names rhyme!) I think we could run analysis to to find the similarity and distance between style of speech for different narrators.
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I thought of Mrs. Merridew and her embroidery, and of Betteredge and his conscience. There is a wonderful sameness in the solid side of the English character–just as there is a wonderful sameness in the solid expression of the English face.
There is a gentleness in Jenning's character in which he does not get offended by Mrs.Merridew's faint horror upon seeing him and Betteredge's grumbling about his conscience, and instead attributes these qualities to the "wonderful solid side of the English character".
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“You have caught a Tartar, Mr. Jennings–and the name of him is Bruff.”
I was wondering if anyone could explain the symbolism of Tartar in this text? With the mention of Tartar I think of the foreign prince in "Turandot", also that this ethnic group is more often portrayed as barbaric and invasive in literature, but it doesn't seem to fit the picture here, and I'm confused as why Jennings refers to Mr.Bruff as "a Tartar".
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The moment he saw me, he pulled out the pocket-book and pencil, and obstinately insisted on taking notes of everything that I said to him.
In Mr.Jenning's narrative, the word "obstinate" has been used to describe Betteredge several times, and it seems from his descriptions of their interactions that Betteredge is indeed an obstinate old man, but a quick search through the story gives a peculiarly high frequency of this certain adjective. I think we could run an analysis on which characters have been described as "obstinate" more often, details of their character traits and what led to this comment. Or do some narrators use the word more often and it may be a particular way they see the difference in personality from themselves and other people?
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Placed in a situation which may, I think, be described as entirely without parallel, what is the first proceeding to which I resort? Do I seclude myself from all human society? Do I set my mind to analyse the abominable impossibility which, nevertheless, confronts me as an undeniable fact? Do I hurry back to London by the first train to consult the highest authorities, and to set a searching inquiry on foot immediately? No. I accept the shelter of a house which I had resolved never to degrade myself by entering again; and I sit, tippling spirits and water in the company of an old servant, at ten o’clock in the morning. Is this the conduct that might have been expected from a man placed in my horrible position?
Here Blake implements a lot of rhetorical questions and by answering them himself, justifies his choices to the readers
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It is likely enough that I spoke rather carelessly. At any rate, Betteredge seemed to be piqued by something in the reply which I had just made to him. “You might trust to worse than me, Mr. Franklin–I can tell you that,” he said a little sharply.
Blake is keenly observant to other people's emotions and makes assumptions about what he did or said to provoke these reactions (which is even more noticeable in the confrontation with Rachel). I think we could run an analysis to see if the frequency of emotional adjectives used in Blake's narrative is higher than that of other narratives.
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I strongly suspect myself of thinking as the rest of the world think in this matter
Bruff takes an objective perspective of himself and is rational enough to acknowledge his own bias
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But, oh, don’t let us judge! My Christian friends, don’t let us judge!
On a quick ctrl+F, frequency of the word "Christian" in Miss Clark's narrative is 27/50, a really large fraction relative to the bulk of the rest of the chapters
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When I folded up my things that night–when I reflected on the true riches which I had scattered with such a lavish hand, from top to bottom of the house of my wealthy aunt–I declare I felt as free from all anxiety as if I had been a child again. I was so light-hearted that I sang a verse of the Evening Hymn. I was so light-hearted that I fell asleep before I could sing another. Quite like a child again! quite like a child again!
I think Miss Clark demonstrates a sense of obsessive–compulsive personality disorder, hints include her habit of tidying her hair at all times, meticulous folding of her clothes, and eye for detail in keeping a diary, but is reflected most significantly in her insistence in handing out tracts to people she meet, near hysteria (as others may see it) in stuffing them in various corners of her aunt's possessions to make sure that her aunt sees them, and anxiety when her task has not yet been fulfilled or did not reach expected results, while thinking herself justified and rational at the same time.
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A cloak (on a woman’s back) is an emblem of charity–it covers a multitude of sins.
Here Sergeant Cuff gives a metaphor of a woman's cloak that it symbolizes charity and covers up sins, faintly echoing an earlier passage where Betteredge says Rosanna constantly wore her coat to hide her deformed shoulder
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In a minute more, Miss Rachel came downstairs–very nicely dressed in some soft yellow stuff, that set off her dark complexion, and clipped her tight (in the form of a jacket) round the waist. She had a smart little straw hat on her head, with a white veil twisted round it. She had primrose-coloured gloves that fitted her hands like a second skin. Her beautiful black hair looked as smooth as satin under her hat. Her little ears were like rosy shells–they had a pearl dangling from each of them. She came swiftly out to us, as straight as a lily on its stem, and as lithe and supple in every movement she made as a young cat. Nothing that I could discover was altered in her pretty face, but her eyes and her lips. Her eyes were brighter and fiercer than I liked to see; and her lips had so completely lost their colour and their smile that I hardly knew them again.
Here the narrator goes to extents to depict Miss Rachel's figure, using bright colors of her clothes to contrast her unhappiness, and the description of her facial expressions (brighter, fiercer, lack of smile) also contrast to her sweetness before these events happened.
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I only ask you to exercise your observation more carefully than usual.
Common in detective novels, the narrator lays down hints that link to different characters, and the suspense branches off, which in this case includes the mention of two critical figures at the dinner - Mr.Candy and Mr.Murthwaite, the oddity of Miss Rachel, what she said to Mr.Franklin and the peculiar things Rosanna said about the diamond not being able to be found, which is strangely compatible to what Miss Rachel declared in her outburst. I think it would be interesting to network the clues and plot down how/when unknowns mentioned earlier are revealed as the story progresses.
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Miss Rachel, safe in England, was quite delighted to hear of her danger in India. The Bouncers were more delighted still; they dropped their knives and forks with a crash, and burst out together vehemently, “O! how interesting!”
The reactions to the man's words were ironic; instead of being alarmed and probing for reason of danger, the naive Rachel and other guests were "delighted" and found it merely "interesting", contrasting Lady Verinder's unease.
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Nancy tried to push by, without answering; upon which I rose up, and took her by the ear. She is a nice plump young lass, and it is customary with me to adopt that manner of showing that I personally approve of a girl.
The narrator takes Nancy by the ear to show approval of the girl, also in a later paragraph says that "when she looks nice, I chuck her under the chin. it isn't immorality - it's only habit", or when he speaks of Rosanna crying: "when you want to comfort a woman by the shortest way, take her on your knee", and combined with his opinions towards his wife and daughter, it seems like he doesn't display much respect towards women other than his lady, instead demonstrates objectification.
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Now the Diamond could never have been in our house, where it was lost, if it had not been made a present of to my lady’s daughter; and my lady’s daughter would never have been in existence to have the present, if it had not been for my lady who (with pain and travail) produced her into the world. Consequently, if we begin with my lady, we are pretty sure of beginning far enough back.
Here the narrator states obvious logical assumptions (the diamond would not have been given to the lady's daughter if she had not married and given birth to the child and thus would not have disappeared on the birthday party), which may be considered redundant in normal talk, to reflect the rambling speech and tendency of an old man's consciousness that is easily pulled back to the far past. But from another perspective, this part can also serve as a link to bring out the topic of how he continuously worked for the family until the present.
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