Joycean Absences

James Joyce uses a creative way of absences in his "Dubliners". The absences in his story play a very important role. The absences in the narrative have created unexplained mystery. These mysteries are to be filled by the reader's imagination. Not necessary a word to replace the missing word, but an image which contains a thousand words. "Wide-awake and laughing-like to himself. . . ." (Joyce 18). When one read this, one could picture a priest in his sixty, sitting in his confession-box laughing by himself. The idea that will follow could be positive, neutral or negative. In the positive side, God has come to him at his dying hours which bring joy to him. Neutral side would be he is just there laughing by himself to his humorous memories throughout his life. Lastly, negative side would be that the demonic power has overcome him. The setting of the story plays a role on leading the reader to any of those three possible conclusions; but it is still up to the reader to decide which conclusion suits the best. The Absences in the story created a window of opportunity for the reader to come to his own conclusion on the details in which created a very interesting, mysterious story.

The second type of absence in the story is through the characters. The dead priest whom is the main subject of the story, was not introduce properly. One would not be able to tell the reason why he is dying, why his death is so significant, and what kind of person he was. The same goes to the narrator of the story. The reader does not have the information needed to conclude the narrator’s relation to the priest nor his significant in the story. By doing so, Joyce creates the sense of confusion and curiosity that the narrator feels through the story. Furthermore, it create the crave for more information in which is left to the reader’s imagination.