Discuss Joyce’s Use of Free Indirect Discourse in ‘Counterparts' and 'a Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'
James Joyce
Discuss Joyce’s use of free indirect discourse in Counterparts and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
Joyce utilises free indirect discourse to convey the sense of an individual processing the world around him in an idiosyncratically subjective way. In many of Joyce’s portraits, whether of his Dubliners or of his semi-autobiographical Stephen Dedalus, the narrative is confined by the limitations of the character’s state of mind; as the individual consciousness pervades the narrative, Joyce is able to retain an authorial distance which can disorientate his readers to an arguably greater effect than stream-of-consciousness, or indeed any other type of narrative. In its hybrid of characteristics of both direct speech and third-person narration, the ambiguity as to whether we perceive the views of the narrator or character, leads the reader to retain a constant wariness. As the boundaries of convention between the voices of narrator and character are eroded, the reader must constantly assess the extent to which Joyce’s narrative is tainted by the experiences and emotions of his characters.
In his volume of short stories, Joyce is able to utilise free indirect style to great effect, as the psyches of his characters are frequently projected onto the narrative. Counterparts is one such example. Considering the explosive and domineering nature of Farrington, it is highly appropriate that his state of consciousness should immediately impose itself into the narrative with a resounding forcefulness:
‘The bell rang furiously and, when Miss Parker went to the tube, a furious voice called out in a piercing North of Ireland accent:
-Send Farrington here!
Miss Parker returned to her machine, saying to a man who was writing at his desk:
-Mr Alleyne wants you upstairs.’ (pg.82)
From these opening few lines alone, there is much to be inferred pertaining to Farrington’s mindset. The tagging of an adjective such as ‘furiously’ to an
Discuss Joyce’s use of free indirect discourse in Counterparts and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
Joyce utilises free indirect discourse to convey the sense of an individual processing the world around him in an idiosyncratically subjective way. In many of Joyce’s portraits, whether of his Dubliners or of his semi-autobiographical Stephen Dedalus, the narrative is confined by the limitations of the character’s state of mind; as the individual consciousness pervades the narrative, Joyce is able to retain an authorial distance which can disorientate his readers to an arguably greater effect than stream-of-consciousness, or indeed any other type of narrative. In its hybrid of characteristics of both direct speech and third-person narration, the ambiguity as to whether we perceive the views of the narrator or character, leads the reader to retain a constant wariness. As the boundaries of convention between the voices of narrator and character are eroded, the reader must constantly assess the extent to which Joyce’s narrative is tainted by the experiences and emotions of his characters.
In his volume of short stories, Joyce is able to utilise free indirect style to great effect, as the psyches of his characters are frequently projected onto the narrative. Counterparts is one such example. Considering the explosive and domineering nature of Farrington, it is highly appropriate that his state of consciousness should immediately impose itself into the narrative with a resounding forcefulness:
‘The bell rang furiously and, when Miss Parker went to the tube, a furious voice called out in a piercing North of Ireland accent:
-Send Farrington here!
Miss Parker returned to her machine, saying to a man who was writing at his desk:
-Mr Alleyne wants you upstairs.’ (pg.82)
From these opening few lines alone, there is much to be inferred pertaining to Farrington’s mindset. The tagging of an adjective such as ‘furiously’ to an