Paralysis is a state of helpless stoppage, inactivity, or inability to act. Moral is the distinction between right and wrong. Moral paralysis is a merger of the two. The Dubliners written by James Joyce, is a book filled with tales of people dealing with moral paralysis. A short story titled Clay in The Dubliners, tells the tale of a young woman. Maria is a single maid working at a Protestant charity for troubled women. She’s a simple woman and looks forward to having dinner with her good friend Joe Donnelly and his family.
A series of events that occur during her rip to the Donnelly’s show a weakness in her ability to deal with mistakes and accept the side affects of being human. Maria becomes overwhelmed with guilt, frustration, and is almost tearful when she realizes she’d left her plum cake on the tram. Page 84 perfectly shows the constant battle Maria has with herself over rather minimal issues.
One of the first lines addresses Maria’s desire to solve the problem of the missing cake. Then she asked if any the children had eaten it- by mistake of course- but the children all said no and looked as if they did not like to eat cakes if they were to be accused of tealing”(Joyce 84). Maria is a very positive lady and thinks highly of others. The thought of the children intentionally ruining her gift is one she actively ignores, instead she assumes that any involvement the children may or may not of had in the disappearance of the cake was completely accidental.
In a way she seems to compensate for self – depleting thoughts of her own by lifting other people up on a moral pedestal. ” Maria , remembering how confused the gentleman with the greyish moustache had made her, coloured her with shame and vexation and disappointment. At the thought of the failure of her little surprise and of the two and four-pence she had thrown away for nothing she nearly cried”(84). The issue of forgetting a cake on a tram doesn’t seem serious enough to become so overcome with emotion one is near tears.
Maria however, did just that, she felt guilty about engaging in a conversation, despite the temporary joy and happiness it brought her because it led her to forget the cake for the Donnelly’s. The combination of not only losing the cake but losing the money from purchasing the cake adds to the burning guilt she has inside her. As the story progresses a trend can be seen, Maria tends to act over emotional and anxious about small issues that are just apart of life. Towards the end of this page the Donnelly’s begin offering Maria nuts and drinks.
Instead of Maria accepting their offers she rejected them, even saying that she would prefer if the Donnelly’s didn’t offer her anything. She is very consumed with shame for forgetting the cakes that she doesn’t feel that she deserves anything from the family. Mr. Donnelly is determined give her a drink and she eventually takes it, not to disappoint Mr. Donnelly of course. While they are sitting together near the fireplace Maria decided to put forth a good word for his brother Alphy. Mr. Donnelly confidently condemns Alphy, citing God as his justification in his hatred of his brother.
Maria seems to play the mediator role very often. As was proven earlier, she is somewhat a perfectionist and works hard to make herself and the environment around her seemingly perfect. Maria doesn’t appear to be an unhappy person and is not rebellious, but she is also very reflective, often overthinks mistakes she has made. Her inability to accept and deal with ituations that don’t follow her strict ideals demonstrate her paralysis. Personal Narrative: The Move I grew up in Mississauga, Ontario more specifically an area called Meadowvale.
It was a calm, quiet, suburb filled with many kids to play games, share stories and go on adventures with. I would hang out with my friends in my neon green painted room for hours. I loved my neighborhood, I loved my friends, I loved my house. Beginning high school was something I looked forward to. I went to a catholic school not to far from my house, and was excited to begin this new chapter with my best friends. When my parents told me that we would be moving to Michigan I was very disappointed and annoyed.
I had spent so much time planning all these fun milestones I wanted to complete in highschool and now I would have to start all over again. I changed once we moved to Michigan to a less outgoing, less enthusiastic, more recluse person and I didn’t even realize it. In the weeks before starting school in Canton I tried to stay positive and optimistic, meanwhile on the inside I was screaming. Over the next few days I gave myself pep talks regularly to calm my nerves about attending a new school with a opulation six times that of my old high school.
When the first day of school finally rolled around I sort of felt happy. I was looking forward to a new start and an opportunity to make new friends, take different classes and learn more about my new environment. When I got onto the bus that morning I sat quietly as the rest of the bus was filled with the chatter of friends reuniting from their long exciting summers. Instead of taking the bus ride as an opportunity to meet some friendly faces, chose to avoid eye contact with my peers. I was captivated by a glowing screen that could connect me to my friends back home.
In every class I sat quietly glued to my phone whenever possible sending my friends updates on my experience, raving about how great everything was. Not realizing the situation was only great over the internet, In person I wasn’t happy and things weren’t great. Weeks passed and things remained the same, I had made a few acquaintances but didn’t feel like belonged, I was frustrated with my situation and didn’t understand why this time around assimilating to a new environment was so hard. I had moved a few times before and adjusted fine, but this time it was different.
I remember being in American Literature 5th hour, sitting at my desk as I normally did on my phone as usual when I heard a student in my class ask another student if I had any friends. The other student replied explaining that I was new to the school from Canada and didn’t know anyone. Overhearing that conversation is something that normally wouldn’t mean anything to me but in that moment I came to the realization that, that student was right, I didn’t really have any friends but in a way I was fine with it. I was unwilling to associate with a new crowd, I brought it upon myself.
I embraced my new way of life, becoming very reflective and introspective. I chose to spend my lunches in the library and to dodge social events. As time went on I became more and more depressed but I ignored it. My whole family saw a change in me that I felt and never acknowledged. I was blind to the reality of the situation, choosing to blame everyone else for my unhappiness when I was causing it. My moral paralysis was rooted in fear. In all of this I was afraid of what might happen if I was open with people. I was afraid of building relationships that wouldn’t measure up to my old ones.
