tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018483532968271109.post6390437696174754550..comments2023-10-15T06:43:05.565-07:00Comments on Celebrating James Joyce's Dubliners - February 2013: Symbolism in James Joyce's "Sisters"Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15146820152372662167noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018483532968271109.post-82852498756221458062012-09-29T08:26:19.926-07:002012-09-29T08:26:19.926-07:00I agree that the background of Father Flynn is rel...I agree that the background of Father Flynn is relatively irrelevant and that it is much more useful to make points based on what we do know. Father Flynn as a character is not as important as what Father Flynn symbolizes. I think that Father Flynn represents the reoccurring theme of the paralysis. The influence that he has on the boy keeps him from being a child and socializing with children his own age. And in a way his death symbolizes the death of the dominance of Catholicism over Ireland. I read a text that highlighted the significance of the date of Father Flynn's passing - July 1. In 1690, July 1 was the day when Protestant King William III defeated Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne around the time of the Glorious Revolution. I found it interesting that priest had passed away on the same day of the Protestant victory back in 1690 that reinforced the Protestant ascendancy in Ireland. A simple piece of information like a date of passing that could easily go unnoticed to us 21st Century Americans has much more symbolism once you read between the lines. That is what I enjoy about James Joyce's writing. Conniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15266049148505854717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018483532968271109.post-28236293493816897192012-09-26T19:17:55.230-07:002012-09-26T19:17:55.230-07:00One of the things that caught my eye when reading ...One of the things that caught my eye when reading "The Sisters" was the use of the word "gnomon" on the opening page of the book. The word is a geometry term, according to dictionary.com, that means the part of a parallelogram that remains after a similar parallelogram has been taken away from one of its corners. Or as I thought of it, the "child parallelogram" that remains if you remove the "adult parallelogram." With this in mind, I wonder if we are supposed to view our narrator as the "gnomon" or "child" that remains once his "parent" Father Flynn is removed from his life. If this is the case then the story may have been entitled "The Sisters" as a way to draw the reader's attention to the non-broken relationship that is presented in the story. Although the sisters of Father Flynn have lost a family member, they still have each other, while the narrator is now forced to grow up feeling like he has a missing piece. <br /><br />-Maren MAphra Behnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14911550574739424509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018483532968271109.post-36004018898017268502012-09-26T06:53:52.452-07:002012-09-26T06:53:52.452-07:00I find it interesting to note that the speaker in ...I find it interesting to note that the speaker in Araby lives in a house formerly inhabited by a deceased priest. While through contextual clues we can be certain that this is not the same priest from Sisters, it still seems to be too far of a stretch to say that this was just a coincidence, though of what purpose this is supposed to serve, I remain ignorant.Landry Levinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13606681680640200067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018483532968271109.post-84149922617182428872012-09-25T21:33:22.803-07:002012-09-25T21:33:22.803-07:00I think it is worth noting that even though Joyce ...I think it is worth noting that even though Joyce had a reputation for being anti-catholic, he portrays the boy as affectionate toward the priest. <br /><br />At first glance, Joyce seems to want to simply insinuate that the priest has sinned, to the point where even his repeated confessions can't wash him of the sins. But by adding the boy to the story, "The Sisters" becomes a story about how a boy feels about his mentor dying, not just a story about a corrupted priest. <br /><br />I interpret the priest's disease to symbolize the disease that Joyce feels Catholicism is to Ireland, but the addition of the boy's admiration for the priest shows that perhaps not all of their influences are bad, in Joyce's eyes. B. Bronsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00896743113333717421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018483532968271109.post-43038040249792057492012-09-25T21:30:46.078-07:002012-09-25T21:30:46.078-07:00While this is not related to sisters in particular...While this is not related to sisters in particular, I would like to make the observation that each of the stories ends with a a line that is meant to be important and weighty. In the case of sisters, the last line is meant to reveal that Flynn was likely more than a little crazy, and such an idea re-contextualizes the story and thus the stories often demand a second reading. <br />Jonathan C. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12869706907641327411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018483532968271109.post-80196447331522034532012-09-25T19:35:00.955-07:002012-09-25T19:35:00.955-07:00David R.David R.Sir Francis Baconhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16225689743519362647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018483532968271109.post-75964912188332629092012-09-25T19:34:04.962-07:002012-09-25T19:34:04.962-07:00I feel that the Priest is expected to be a symbol ...I feel that the Priest is expected to be a symbol of all that is pious and good because he works for God. However, because he has a darker side, that symbol becomes more intricate. Our perception of priesthood is no longer applicable when we find out that he has committed sin (Whether that be directly related to the boy or not is irrelevant.) Joyce could be making a statement here about Irish Catholicism, or a more universal idea that humans, no matter their occupation, are imperfect. Sir Francis Baconhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16225689743519362647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018483532968271109.post-23983125268342712362012-09-25T19:15:04.941-07:002012-09-25T19:15:04.941-07:00I think the boy also shows a paralysis throughout ...I think the boy also shows a paralysis throughout Sisters, as he is consistently unable to say anything to the Sisters or to his family and Old Cotter about Father Flynn's death, despite their expectations of him to do so. He feels their pressure but remains quiet.<br /><br />-Thomas M.H.P. Lovecrafthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15028031515869444128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018483532968271109.post-36479079158658807622012-09-25T18:37:54.247-07:002012-09-25T18:37:54.247-07:00Flynn definitely exemplifies (if not symbolizes) h...Flynn definitely exemplifies (if not symbolizes) how Dublin and Catholicism (according to Joyce) can paralyze the spirit of individualism that he argues for. It is clear that Father Flynn was quite intelligent - after all, he studied in Rome after his upbringing in the slums of Dublin. Flynn could have become a scholar in the Vatican yet for unknown reasons stayed in Dublin to preach. I think he regrets not travelling away from Dublin. Perhaps the reason Flynn tries to educate the narrator of the story is to live vicariously through him should the narrator take the path that Flynn himself did not take.<br /><br />-Dan C.F. Scott Fitzgeraldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16121169177328619774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018483532968271109.post-16156910280409068832012-09-25T17:59:35.708-07:002012-09-25T17:59:35.708-07:00Ben F. of Mr. Colley's class says:
I've r...Ben F. of Mr. Colley's class says:<br /><br />I've read an interesting article which argues that Old Cotter is the secular counterpart to Father Flynn, noting that Old Cotter works in a distillery which "produces spirits" and that he is described as red-faced--Flynn is Gaelic for red. Both are in competition for the role of father figure to the narrator- Father Flynn's name even has the word "father" in it.<br />Bringing in the gnomon, which briefly flits across the boy's head and is widely interpreted as a symbol of the universal lack in the short stories, there seems to be a lack of a reliable father figure for the boy.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15146820152372662167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018483532968271109.post-83682584136791656822012-09-24T13:51:29.776-07:002012-09-24T13:51:29.776-07:00I completely agree, and I think it is through the ...I completely agree, and I think it is through the child's perspective that Father Flynn as a symbol becomes so interesting and complex in its meaning. There's a lot of ways to unpack the symbol of the Priest - most obviously that he symbolizes Irish Catholicism. He like many other grown men of the story could more generally symbolize the archetypal father figure as well, and with these insights in mind, the boy's perspective gives the symbol deeper, more nuanced meaning. For instance, I think of how "impressionable" (in Cotter's words) the Catholic Church had - and has - been on a late-developing-and-thus-child-like nation like Ireland.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15146820152372662167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018483532968271109.post-5647291349055499102012-09-24T11:22:25.750-07:002012-09-24T11:22:25.750-07:00If I'm honest, what sustains my interest in th...If I'm honest, what sustains my interest in these early stories is the perspective of the child. Innocent and sincere, ignorant but not stupid, impotent to impact much but emotionally rich in surveying his world. Joelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10216643105687699035noreply@blogger.com