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Niema Poindexter
Professor Olson
English 114 B
25 April 2015
Eveline's Identity
The environment that we are surrounded by has an influence on who we are and what we
will become. The space that we are surrounded by has the impact of what we are to people and
what we will do. Yet, is our reaction to the environment that helps shape on our identity to
people who surrounds us. The story of "Eveline" by James Joyce is about a nineteen-year-old girl
wanting to escape from an abusive father. Evelines life as a child was the most memorable time
of her life; her mother was alive and her childhood seems that her life was peaceful. When her
mother died, her family environment changes, which leads Eveline wanting to escape but in end
never goes through with it, as she wanted to do in the beginning of the story. Yet she fails in
leaving due to the fear of her space would be the same no matter where she goes. Eveline's
family environment has influenced her psychological space, which manipulates her identity as
she comes to a collapse within herself.
Family environment has an influence on the identity of Eveline to change over time. The
family environment is one of the main environments that children's identity is formed. Evelines
Identity as a child was normal as any other childhood. The family environment has a major
impact on childrens personality and identity. If the environment were to be healthy, which could
lead to a more stable in the future, yet if the environment were to be abusive, would leave
psychological scars in the Identity of the child. Harden, who has a Ph.D. on human development
exclaims, Of the environmental influences, the family arguably has the most profound impact

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on child development, (Harden 1). The most influences of ones identity is cause by the
environment they are raise around. In the flashback, seemed to have been rather happy then.
Her father was not so bad then, and besides her mother was alive (Joyce 27). Eveline has a
daydream of her past when her life was not has harsh because the environment was nice. In the
past, her life was less stressful than her future having to take responsibilities. Yet, when the
sudden death of her mother and her brother Ernest is when the whole story kicks in. Having the
death of a love one has the major impact of the family environment. The impact has because the
father become the man who is now abusive to his surroundings. Even though he seems to care
for his daughter about the warning about sailor are no good. His actions of his past when she was
grow up have only to leave a scar in the decision that she makes for herself. Eveline mentally
states was strong and determine to leave the household for her personal benefit of having a more
easy life. The life in her childhood has faded away before she even now it. She has grown up so
fast causing her to do everything in her mother place.
. Her identity is solely around her responsibilities of doing everything by her own and
taking care of others. Eveline wanted to escape the life she was living now for a better one in the
future. Eveline was having less control of her nineteen years of her life. Having an only person in
the family to bring money to the household and having no control over it. Her father was in
command in everything she was doing or taking care of. Her responsibilities were, Hard work
to keep the house together and to see that the two young children who had been left to her
charge (Joyce 29). It seem as her identity is like a single mother that has the overwhelming
duties of keeping things in order in sakes of other instead of her. She is worried about the home
than about her own personal wanting for herself. As she seems to put other head of herself than
the other way around. Her space identity was her house and caring for what was inside. Her job

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for making money giving it to her father, then used what is left to maintain the house all in order
and raising two children. The only freedom she seems to have is having a lover who was a sailor
was her chance to escape the reality that she was living in. At the beginning of the story, she
seems untouchable in her determination to leave with her lover for a more promising future. She
believes that her father is the cause of her misfortunes in having a better life because of his
actions since the death of his wife. She finds herself untouched by the obstacles that she faces
and now exactly what she wants and how she is going to get it.
The factors of having a stressful life have inflicted the outcome of her staying back and
leave the opportunity that was given. At the end of the story, Eveline was about to escape to her
new life and start fresh yet stop in her tracks afraid. She had allowed the one person who has
cause trauma to her influences on her decisions of leaving or not. Her identity does not allow her
to take a risk in her life because she felts as if at the climax point of her life. Toward the end of
the story life a shocking movement, Her eyes gave him no sign of love or farewell or
recognition, (Joyce 32). To end the story where the character is left emotionless is the
psychological problems that have been suddenly release when things were going to change for
her. That she all the sudden became helpless in her own decision in fear of what her father has
said to her. That she was traumatizing in fear that her new life would be the never-ending worry
or the escape from the reality she came from. OHalloran has established, Her conscious
thinking that she will stay and her conscious thinking that she will leave rather cancel each other
outher subconscious had been telling us something different from her conscious, (OHalloran
3). She had a battle against herself mentally left her in the state of having no emotions what so
every, which leads to a shock. The battle within herself was so consuming that left her to blank
on her surrounds and have no reaction what so ever. At the end of the story, she seems rather to

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be shatter into pieces as she lost her whole identity inside. Her subconscious and her conscious
have cancelled each other out that there was nothing to move or stall that made her eyes display
what was going on.
At the beginning of the story, Evelines Identity is concern around her responsibilities
and wanting the freedom away from home. Yet, as the story goes by the family environment
especially her father has left more than she had bargain for which cause the mishaps at the end of
the story. Evelines character has change when she was about to leave to a new space that could
have been better than the one she was living now. Evelines identity was based on her
emotionally of her surrounding and the words of other. That she has been stressed for some time
and it was building up to her climax. When she found this place, where she can relax and enjoy
herself, which is by her lovers side. That was her movement of escape from the reality of doing
everything by herself. She changes overtime and she does not seem to notices those changes that
she was never ready to leave even though she thought she was ready. Even life is similar to
someone being in an abusive relationship with someone you love. It that no matter how much
they tried to hurt on purpose or accidently you love them so much that you become blind in way
other people can see perfectly clear. That you been hurt so much that you want to leave , yet
have the hard time leaving because you care for them so much you careless about yourself.
When they do leave that relationship that their lives are more healthier but for Eveline that
relationship has a strong grip on her that she never escaped. This put her mental state to be push
into a doll with no emotions. She snaps at the end of the story because her environment has
played a trick on her mental state of having negative outcomes wherever she goes. She went
from being a determine girl to someone that has doubt on her decisions.

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The environment that Eveline is surround cause her identity to collapse when she need it
most to escape. Her identity has change for the worse on her part not seeing that she thought she
was not that influences was an actually disturbances to her character. That the choices were
already decided for her to stay back and never have to open opportunity for a better state. Her
strong mental state was a delusion of a weak mental state only hoping to be better. In the words
of what does not kill you make you stronger was a hoax in Evelines life, because she lives on
the fantasy of her childhood against the window. Eveline starts from a strong girl who has her
life set of when she leaves to a girl who doubts and worries that something negative is going to
happen to her.

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Work Cited
Harden, Brenda Jones. "Safety and Stability for Foster Children: A Developmental
Perspective." - The Future of Children -. N.p., Winter 2004. Web. 20 Feb. 2015.
O'Halloran, Kieran. "The Subconscious In James Joyce's 'Eveline': A Corpus Stylistic Analysis
That Chews On The 'Fish Hook'." Language & Literature 16.3 (2007): 227-244.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
Joyce, James, and Margot Norris. "Eveline." Dubliners: Authoritative Text, Contexts, Criticism.
New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. 26-32. Print.