Topic > The Challenges of James Joyce's Life Depicted in "Eveline"

In the life of a writer, his or her personal experiences often weigh heavily on his or her stories. James Joyce, Irish writer of the early 1900s, is one of the many experiences that had an immense causatum on his writing. Joyce was a very passionate writer, his stories predominantly describing his most personal experiences which had an impact on life. Joyce wrote stories about her love life, family and challenges. Challenges related to abuse and feeling cemented between two ambitions. In Joyce's “Eveline,” the title character finds herself in a difficult situation: she is afraid of her abusive father and decides whether to keep a promise to a loved one or leave with her lover. In "Eveline" by James Joyce, the title character goes through several challenges involving abuse as a child and estrangement from love, which are very similar to the experiences Joyce encountered in her life. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Born in a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, in the early 1880s, James AA Joyce had a very stereotypical life. Joyce had eleven brothers, nine of whom survived, and they all hated John Joyce, Joyce's father. Joyce's family was not perfect; for example, “her father was an alcoholic who drove the family into poverty, her mother was a martyr to her husband and children” (Gleed 5). John Joyce wasn't a bad father, he was just subordinate and made some bad decisions. John Joyce's poor financial planning and decision making began to harm his family; John Joyce became increasingly violent and abusive, "But he appears never to have harmed his son James, who... 'got along easily' with his father." Although Joyce was greatly affected by his father's violence, as shown in his writings, he had a personal bond with him that none of his brothers had. John Joyce's actions became somewhat deplorable to his family and friends. This provided inspiration for some of the conflicts in “Eveline.” In the story, the title character's life is very similar to Joyce's. The story begins with Eveline sitting by a window reliving her childhood. This quickly led to memories of her abusive father, closely linked to Joyce's life. The titled character talks about how as a child his father was a scary and violent man; and how: “Even now, although he was over nineteen, he sometimes felt in danger from his father's violence” (Joyce 2). Not only did she feel threatened by her father, but she felt she would never gain her mother's respect. This has a strong affinity with Joyce's life, John Joyce became so violent that he got to the point where he was no longer the same person. This situation escalated to the point that "he began to threaten her and tell her what he would do to her just for the sake of her dead mother" (Joyce 3). The death of Eveline's mother had a huge impact on her life; they were very close and Eveline admired her mother greatly. The feeling of being intimidated led Eveline to go away to her house. She started dating a young man named Frank. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay After meeting Frank, Eveline felt trapped. Frank is a sailor who has given Eveline many opportunities in life. He offered to change the world; for Eveline to leave everything behind and sail with him on a boat across the ocean, where they would build a family. She didn't know what to say or do: “Eveline feels trapped and..