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Analysis Of James Joyce 's Dubliners ' Dubliners

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Bria LeeAnn Coleman
ENG 299
Dr. Mark Facknitz
October 12, 2015
Epiphanies in James Joyce’s Dubliners Characters in Dubliners experience revelations in their every day lives which James Joyce called epiphanies. Merriam Webster defines an epiphany as “an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure.” While word epiphany has a religious connotation, these epiphanies characters in Dubliners experience do not bring new experiences and possibility of reform that epiphanies usually have. Joyce’s epiphanies allow characters to better understand their circumstances, generally full of sadness and grief. After these revelations, characters go back to their lives with acceptance but frustration. Dubliners fail to see their situation fully, which is the reason they lacked reaching their full potential. Dubliners is full of characters in lethargic positions that Joyce saw as the fate of all Dubliners. In each story, he gave each individual the possibility of an epiphany, but often the characters failed to break through and see their ability to change their situations, because of this, some of these epiphanies occur only on the narrative level, showing the reader that the story’s character missed their epiphany. In fact, in “The Dead”, the scene is set on/around January 6th, which is the Feast of the Epiphany. The Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of Christ’s divinity to the Magi. “The Dead” is also Joyce’s last chance to make clarity of an epiphany. Will this

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