The Boarding House (James Joyce)

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Title: <The Boarding House>

Author: James Joyce 

Rating: 7.5 / 10


 In <The Boarding House>, 'marriage' was portrayed quite differently with other classic stories we are used to. Polly and Mr. Doran seems that they will gonna marry, but it does not seem that they are really in love. Mr. Doran worries about his social reputation rather than the relationship between Polly. Polly also was in despair after her mother found out what happened between her and Mr. Doran. I think this unique depiction of marriage means that our real life is not like a romance movie. Reality is complicated. Marriage is not a thing that can be only decided by love. 

Mrs. Mooney is a interesting character. She is a strong woman who raised her own business and two children by herself. However, she used Polly to gather more men to her boarding house, and she kinda used Polly to get a good son-in-law. She is very cunning but that was the way she survived from harsh situation. I think this shows that a certain degree of cunning can be necessary to survive in a harsh society. (177 words)

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Gooseberries (Anton Chekhov)

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 Title: <Gooseberries> Author: Anton Chekhov Rating: 8.5 / 10 I think Ivan had his own strong belief about happiness. He criticizes Nikolay for only thinking about his own happiness. We can know this when Ivan says, "A higher standard of living, overeating and idleness develop the most insolent self-conceit" while thinking about Nikolay, who became rich. He also says that there should be someone who continually reminds a happy man that there are unhappy people. It shows that Ivan thinks someone should work for the world, not for himself. He thinks being happy alone is a sin. I partially agree with Ivan. Nikolay spent his whole life only for one goal, and he was too stingy. He even treated his wife very badly because of the money. Moreover, he became very arrogant after becoming a landowner. His selfish happiness can be blamed. However, I mostly disagree with Ivan because his opinion about happiness is too critical. Working for themselves' happiness is not a bad thin...
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The Student (Anton Chekhov)

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Eveline (James Joyce)

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Title: <Eveline> Author: James Joyce  Rating: 7 / 10 The story shows the miserable life of Irish woman. Even though the author was a man, he well depicted the difficulty of living in Ireland as a woman, and the woman's view on Irish society at the time. I think Eveline's choice was a good decision. Even though she is having hard time in Ireland, it will be hard to settle in a totally new place, too. She has no acquaintance in Buenos Ayres except Frank. Also, Frank is a kind guy to her now, but Frank may turn mean after arriving at Buenos Ayres, just like her father have changed after her mother's death. However, I didn't feel that Eveline's choice was really self-directed. She was paralyzed like a helpless animal at the crossroad even though it was her hope to escape from home. The reason of her choice is not clearly shown in the story, but if her choice was entirely self-directed, she would not be paralyzed. She would have been confident instead. Her choice ...
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