Eveline Symbolism Essay PDF

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Miltier 1 Ronee Miltier ENG1102 06 September 2016 Symbolism in Eveline Eveline is a story written about an Irish girl who is bound by a promise she made to her dying mother. She promised that she would keep the house together for as long as she could. In the story, there are many symbols that represent numerous things. A few symbols that I noticed was the comparison to imprisonment, desire and fear. These symbols are represented by windows, love and death of the people in her life. The first symbol is a window. The window represents the imprisonment that she feels. In the beginning of the story, Eveline is looking out of a window in a stagnant room where she begins to reminisce about the past. She remembers her childhood being better. She says that her father was not as bad then and that her mother was still alive. She recalls playing in the field with her friends before her mother died. Although her father would come looking for her and her siblings as they would play with their friends, she still feels that everyone was happier back then. While looking out of the window, she sees people passing her by. This shows that she feels stuck, or perhaps imprisoned. Eveline is scared to leave the familiar setting and feels compelled to remain where she is at. She does not want to break her promise to her mother, nor does she want to abandon her father. Another symbol in the story is her lover named Frank. He represents desire. While she longs to be with him and even gets as far as the ship dock, she cannot bring herself to leave. She imagines being free of her father and “escaping” to Buenos Ayres with him. She knows that he could give her the life and the love that she craves but she cannot help but to think of her promise

Miltier 2 to her mother and how her father is getting older. She feels stuck. Although she desires to leave, she does not do it. The last symbol is death. In this story, death symbolizes fear. She seems to be scared of dying. Both her mother and her friend, Tizzie Dunn, died when she was a child. Her brother also died as they were growing up. With all of the loved ones she lost, death seemed like a likely possibly for everyone in her life. She was scared that Frank might drown her if she went with him. She was also scared to leave because her father was growing older and he might not be able to live without her. While death was a terrifying thing for Eveline, she seemed to use it as an excuse quite often. These symbols show us how stagnant Eveline’s environment is and how stuck she feels. She is imprisoned by the thought of breaking her promise. She desires to live a normal and fulfilling life even though she will not allow herself to be happy. Eveline is scared of death and feels hopeless. Although she had the chance to leave, she could not bring herself to do it. She likes the familiarity of her life and does not intend to change it....