Eveline

At the end of the story “Eveline” by James Joyce, Eveline becomes paralyze in which disable her from going away with Frank. At that moment, Eveline realizes that she has not considered her decision thoroughly. A new life, a fresh start that Frank has to offer is a very tempting proposition. However, she realizes that she has not taken into account the price she has to pay for it. She realizes that she needs more time to decide. She simply could not go through with her epiphany. She knows that this is for the best, but her thought of leaving her current life for something else is too great of risk she is not ready for. The fears of making a mistake paralyze her on the spot. Without being able to make a decision, she unconsciously sealed her decision of not going. It seems that she is lacking with self confident towards her decisions.

"Escape! She must escape! He would give her life, perhaps love, too. But she wanted to live" (Joyce 49). She knows she has to escape from her current life, however it is something she can deal with later. The urgency of the decision making of going with Frank or not, has overwhelmed her mind and overtake her conscious. It is too hard for her to decide. Suddenly it seems alright to pass on the deal and find another way to escape from her life at her own phase. The pressure for a decision is a greater threat in which she unconsciously decided to escape from. Instead of escaping from her undesirable life, she escape from the need of a urgent decision.