Even if money does not buy happiness, lack of money is generally the cause of sadness. Poverty is, in fact, a widespread problem that can sometimes restrict, or even imprison, a person to the point that fighting seems pointless. In James Joyce's Dubliners, the author reveals how money problems, family responsibilities, and other social pressures can cripple characters and prevent them from achieving their dreams. In fact, the harsh conditions they live in prevent them from escaping, even if fleeing simply means leaving the country, not marrying, writing poetry, or getting drunk. Entrapment caused by paralysis is shown in "Eveline", "The Boarding House", "A Little Cloud", and "Counterparts". Through symbolism and imagery, Joyce reveals the realistic nastiness of Dubliners' lives. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essayThe stories of The Dubliners are arranged chronologically based on human life, moving from a childhood perspective to an adult awareness of life. Therefore, the protagonist of Eveline, being the 4th story, is somewhere between a child and an adult, who struggles with poverty and the difficulties of providing for her family. For most of the story, this 19-year-old girl sits at the window looking out at the avenue while thinking about her life and her future. Her mother died and she now takes care of her unappreciative father and her younger brothers and sisters alone. Eveline is burdened by the promise she made to her mother to keep the family together as long as she can. Her mother's last wish prevents Eveline from seeking a better life, leaving her trapped in her family responsibilities. In fact, the window she looks out of symbolizes freedom and her house symbolizes imprisonment. Even though Eveline works hard outside and inside the house, there always seems to be a shortage of money. So, in a way, poverty also paralyzes Eveline and pushes her to live a miserable life in Dublin. Eveline's escape takes the form of a physical elopement with her lover Frank. He is the only one who treats her like a person. Yet as she wavers on the theme of escape, Eveline remembers her mother who lived a life “of banal sacrifices ending in final madness.” Her mother is basically a symbol for all women forced by family constraints to live a meaningless life and who ultimately only gain madness. Realizing this truth increases his determination to escape. Yet when it comes time to abandon life in Dublin, Eveline is physically paralyzed and unable to move forward. She even feels a kind of numbness at the station, while the freedom boat is ready to leave. Eveline therefore does not have the courage and strength to take the leap that will free her from her oppressive future and even accuses her lover of trying to drown her. Uncertainty and fear of the unknown are also a form of paralysis. She would rather live a miserable life than live an uncertain and hopeful future. In the end, she realizes that there is no hope for her. Although marriage in "Eveline" presents an opportunity for escape, marriage in "The Boarding House" is exposed as a social convention and a trap. In this story, Mr. Doran, a respectable Christian, is forced into marriage due to social pressures, mainly out of fear of losing his job. He had an affair with a 19-year-old girl named Polly while staying at her mother's boarding house. Even though his mother, Mrs.Mooney, knew about this affair from the beginning, she did not immediately intervene so that their relationship deepened until she could force Mr. Doran to marry her daughter. Surprisingly, the least of his worries was his daughter's honor. Like all mothers, she just wanted to see Polly get married. However, at that time, marriage was difficult because men did not like the idea of ​​being attached to a woman. So, Mrs. Mooney used trickery to achieve her goal. When the time comes to confront Mr. Doran, she manipulates him into proposing to his daughter using his concern for his job and his fear of scandal. Although it is clear that Mr. Doran does not favor this marriage, his job, reputation and Catholic guilt prevent him from taking any action to try to stop it. When Mr. Doran is introduced into the story, he is found shaving, which is a symbol of cleaning or eliminating unwanted people. However, it turns out that he experiences great difficulties because it is not easy to purify himself from this sinful affair. In addition, he works in a large house of Catholic wine merchants and if his affair were made public, it would mean losing his job. Even though he may not be a very poor man, the process of making money definitely affects his decisions. So the need for money also paralyzes him. The only way for him to escape from this situation is to run away. Yet Mr. Doran is unable to do so because of these social pressures and ends up becoming a trapped husband. Similarly, marriage and family responsibilities also form a kind of imprisonment in “A Little Cloud.” Here, the protagonist, Little Chandler, is a journalist who hopes to one day publish poetry. Yet his family's money-related needs force him to stay in Dublin and maintain his stable, money-generating job. Thus, they prevent him from realizing his dream and living the life he desires. This paralysis and inability to change also manifests itself in his physical appearance. Like Gallaher, a former acquaintance of Chandler, who is a symbol of success, realizes after not seeing him for many years that he has not changed an atom, which shows that Chandler is so oppressed that he is even incapable of growing and changing physically. Moreover, he still has never traveled, while Gallaher left Dublin long ago and became a successful journalist in Britain. Joyce juxtaposes the crippled Chandler and the successful Gallaher in order to show the great contrast between their lives and the extent of Chandler's entrapment. Yet the only reason for Gallaher's success is that he escaped from Dublin. Unlike the free Gallaher, there are many things stopping poor Chandler from succeeding. On the one hand, his wife is a spendthrift and we can infer that he has money problems, because he continues to pay for their furniture. Once again, the need for money also traps him. In the end, little Chandler feels his imprisonment more clearly when he attempts to read poetry and is even deprived of it because of his child's crying. Chandler finds escape by examining poetry. But once again, his paternal responsibilities take away the only thing that has meaning in his life. Like “Eveline”, he too realizes that there is no hope for him and he transfers his frustration onto his baby. This is a form of epiphany where the character realizes an important truth, in this case that he is paralyzed and will never be able to improve. Joyce uses the Dubliners' epiphanies to show how ordinary situations can reveal universal truths. Finally, in "Counterparts", poverty and the need for money paralyze,.