The choices made daily affect every choice and action in the future. Unfortunately, these choices can be based on different constraints and external forces. Over the years, a person's gender can play a significant role in stagnation and a person's inability to make choices for themselves. Many live in despair of what might happen in the future based on the decisions they make at the time. It is the apprehension of the unknown that leads us to believe that the right choice is oppressive and perhaps unattainable. In James Joyce's short story, "Eveline," the narrator uses a sense of guilt, along with images of dust and decay, to expose Eveline's sense of paralysis stemming from restricted options as a 20th-century woman. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The dust found in Eveline's house directly correlates to how she feels. James Joyce instantly evokes a feeling of inertia in this short story. It begins with Eveline “leaning against the window curtains and in her nostrils there was something like dusty cretonne” (Joyce 3). Dust is generally found in places that are often abandoned, forgotten and to which we no longer pay any attention. In other words, exactly how Eveline feels through her life. Her favorite brother and mother have both died, leaving her with an abusive and demanding father. She finds herself with a never-ending cycle of working to support the family, care for her younger siblings, and keep the house intact. In addition to caring for her siblings, she also has to care for and watch over her abusive father. However, after reading the very beginning of the story, it's easy to see that she is juggling so many different things that she can't take care of the curtains properly, because she doesn't get help from anyone. other. James Joyce emphasizes the word dust because it shows the difficulties that Eveline has faced since the death of her mother. Looking around her, Eveline remembers all the objects she continually dusted, “wondering where all this dust came from” (3). Even after cleaning everything week after week, dust continued to appear everywhere in his house. It was a never-ending cycle, just like Eveline's life. Eveline is stuck in a cycle of tyranny. She lives in fear of her father's abuse, constantly works hard, and must secretly meet her lover. Just as she wonders where all the dust is coming from, she may also wonder where all this negativity in her life is coming from. As Eveline examined all the familiar objects, she also showed the priest's photo. She never learned the priest's name after all these years and the photo was now broken and rotten. His father also shrugged his shoulders whenever anyone asked him about himself. This shows his father's insincerity towards the people he should care about. The last occurrence of dust in this short story occurs near the end. Eveline is sitting in the same place as at the beginning of the story, “breathing the smell of cretonne dust” (5). This could foreshadow that she is stuck where she is and won't be able to leave on the boat with her lover Frank. She is always surrounded by dust, just as she has been continually surrounded by her duties and responsibilities. As Eveline sits at the window, she begins to feel guilty for abandoning the promise she made to her mother, which was to keep their housetogether for as long as possible. She begins to realize that even if she left with Frank, the dust in her house would still remain. There would always be work that wouldn't get done without her or her mother at home. She comes to the conclusion that she was destined to live the same life as her mother, surrounded by the same suffocating dust. The guilt and doubt that Eveline begins to explore plays a role in her decision and her feeling of paralysis. She fears breaking the promise she made to her dying mother if she decides to leave with Frank. She worries about her younger siblings and who will care for them, since she is currently the one who brings in the money and does the household chores. Beyond the guilt, she begins to doubt her decision to be with Frank. She mentions that he is “very kind, virile, open-hearted” (4). However, she never confirms his love for her or that she loves her. Shortly before Eveline was supposed to board the boat with Frank, “she prayed to God to direct her, to show her what her duty was” (6). However, she wonders what her duty is, assuming it would also be a responsibility to be with Frank. At that moment, she doubts that going with Frank would be different from her current life. She quickly believes that going to Buenos Aires would make her live the same life as her mother with her father, doubting everything she and Frank had. The degrading roles of women in the 20th century play a significant role in Eveline's stagnation. Women were considered workers in the home and were expected to care for the children, cook dinner, and do all the housework. After the death of Eveline's mother, she became the wife, or worker, of the house. Even beyond simply being workers in the home, women were expected to submit to the man of the home, regardless of how they were treated. Not only does Eveline do all the housework, but she also works outside the home and gives her earnings to her father. However, when she asked her abusive father for money, he replied "that she was wasting the money, that she had no brains, that he was not going to give her his money harshly." won to throw him in the street” (4). Even though Eveline's father doesn't want to help her with everything she does, she is still obligated to comply with his every wish. In the 20th century, women also did not benefit from the same quality of education, making it more difficult to access professional employment. The jobs women could get would also pay them less money than a man. This leaves women's options very limited and makes it almost impossible for them to progress or succeed in life. Furthermore, due to lack of opportunities, it is also difficult for them to move out and start a new life. At the beginning of the story, Eveline views the move to Argentina as a new world of equality. She thought she would have the opportunity to leave the role she has held since her mother's death. However, she concludes that it is possible that life could be worse than the life she currently leads. People are constantly faced with choices that lead to unknown outcomes and must balance all possible outcomes. To make a change, you have to leave other things behind. Eveline is forced to make the choice of starting a new life that could be better or remaining stuck in her old life choked with dust. Eveline ultimately decides to live her mother's life, but was it the life she lived that led her to die prematurely? James Joyce challenges his readers to understand that the majority of choices made will have ups and downs, but sometimes it is best to start again.,.