Characters in Dubliners Stuck in Suspended Time

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The characters we meet in James Joyce's Dubliners are constantly living in long periods of suspended time. Characters express the desire for something more in life but are torn between the comfort of the familiarity of their everyday routines. The lack of growth and development paint bleak and somber images of Dublin in earth 20th century. In "Eveline" we meet a young girl who has the chance to escape her dull life easily, but fails to do so when the opportunity arises, Mr. Doran in "The Boarding House" who moves about daily creating no progress, and Lenehan, in "Two Gallants" who views a shallow crime being committed but is never actually involved. The suspended time, or time we observe characters "waiting", within each story provides the reader with a clear indication of the dominant theme of paralysis. In "Two Gallants" we meet two exploitive men, Corley and Lenehan, whom are planning to use a woman to steal for them. In the beginning of the story we see a map of Lenehan's route which is hard to keep up with because he is constantly walking in circles, literally and throughout life. The symbolism of Lenehan traveling around Dublin in loops is towards his life, where he is moving forward but never truly arriving anywhere. Lenehan's personal paralysis is that he lives a pitiful life but doesn't wish to. While Corley goes to meet the woman, Lenehan wanders around and decides to stop when he sees a sign for "Ginger Beer and Ginger Ale" in the window of a refreshment bar and lets his mind wander to thoughts of Corley and the woman and afterwards states, "He would be thirty-one in November. Would he ever get a good job? Would he never have a home of his own?" with this Joyce paints the picture of poverty in Dublin and tells the reader how Lenehan has zero hope for his future. We also learn that "Most people considered Lenehan a leech" and unlike the title is not
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