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Dubliners motif essay. The seven deadly sins were once thought to be the worst side of man. It was also thought that anyone who possessed these qualities could not live as a man. In James Joyce s Dubliners, the seven deadly sins are apparent in a number of cases, and often times contribute to the downfall of the character. There is also a number of cases of a mention of hats. The hats reoccur often enough to give them an impact on the theme of the book as a motif.
Joyce uses hats to contribute to the theme that sin is a way of life by acting as a symbol of the sin whenever they appear. Joyce s use of hats is especially apparent in Counterparts, Grace, and Little Cloud. The violent man in Counterparts wears his hat whenever he is going to sin. Hats are often times worn in Dublin, because of the cold weather.
It would not be unusual to see a large number of people wearing hats. Sin is also a large part of Dublin. Just like hats, it would not be unusual if a large percentage of the population had committed a sin. The man in Counterparts commits the sin of wrath. He is wrathful towards his son, and his employer, for no reason whatsoever. In an attempt to get drunk, he goes to a bar, but despite the massive amounts of alcohol that he consumes, it is nor enough to get him drunk.
The frustrations that he has against his employer are magnified into sheer rage when he is defeated in an arm wrestling match at the bar. He goes home and take his anger out on his poor son. What is most important is that, just as this is his regular routine, so is wearing his hat. He puts a hat on when he sneaks out of work to go to a bar the first time, but when he returns to work, he takes the hat off.
When he leaves again, he puts it on. The fact that he puts on his hat whenever he is at the bar, and takes it off when he is at work, reveals the idea that the hat is symbolic of the sin that he commits. Once he gets home, he doesn t take off his hat, because he is still going to sin. If wearing a hat is symbolic of being sinful, then removing the hat off must be symbolic of being virtuous. In Grace, Mr. Kernan is not wearing his silk hat when he is being virtuous, yet the hat is always present.
Grace begins in a bathroom, with Mr. Kernan face down, and his hat rolled away. He is in a fetal position, and seems almost innocent. This is reflected in the fact that he isn t wearing his hat.
Once he gets up, his hat is put on him, and it is revealed that his tongue has been slightly bitten off. He says that it is nothing, and that he can shake it off. This is a part of his pride, which is his sin. His hat is off when he seems innocent of what has happened to him, but once his hat is on it is shown that he is boastful, and that he is a drunken glutton who thinks far too much of himself. Once he is taken home, and convinced to go to the Jesuit retreat, his pride is further revealed. He adamantly refuses to carry the candles when he goes to the retreat.
His religious background conflicts with the religion of the retreat, yet he goes because he wants to be good (which is why his hat is not mentioned when he is lying in his bed with his friends). Yet, once he goes to the retreat, the hat is once again pulled out, and it is revealed that he still has his pride. He is unwilling to change himself for the better because he is too proud of himself, because there is that tiny reminder of his self importance, just as there is the silken hat, sitting innocently on his lap. People in the book who appear to wear hats all the time, are sinful all the time that they are represented. A primary example of this is Two Gallants. Both Lenehan and Corley are wearing hats.
Lenehan s is a yachting cap, whereas Corley s is a big round hat. Their hats never appear to be removed, and they are sinful throughout the story. The story begins with the revelation that Lenehan and Corley want to dupe a young woman into doing what they want. This sin is attempted, yet fails, however, to the very end, the two are sinful. At first there is the sin of lust.
Corley is seeing this girl who obviously wants to have a significant relationship with him, whereas he only wants a physical one. She gives him presents and such, yet he doesn t appear to give her anything. In the end, she refuses his advances, and all the values is the coin that he holds in his hand. This is the sin of greed. Just as the two wear their hats throughout the story, they are sinful throughout the story, and this sin is a way of life for them. Just as people wear hats everyday, the Dubliners are portrayed as people who sin everyday.
Sin is a regular thing to them, and is as common as a hat. In fact, the hat in James Joyce s Dubliners is symbolic of sin, since every time a person is mentioned to be wearing a hat, they are also committing a sin, and even when that hat is not being worn, as long as it is present, some form of that sin is present. From Two Gallants, to Grace, to Counterparts, the motif of hats is always pared with sin as an everyday occurrence and way of life. 335
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