"An Encounter" is a short story by James Joyce. It is second in a collection of Joyce's short stories called Dubliners. In the story, two young boys experience an eerie encounter with a strange, old man. It deals with themes such as routine and wanderlust.
The story, narrated in the first person, is about a boy and his friend Mahony taking a day off from school to seek adventure in their dull lives. The boy has sought escape from his daily routine in stories of the Wild West and American detective stories and in make-believe warfare with his schoolmates. However, "The mimic warfare of the evening became at last as wearisome to me as the routine of school in the morning because I wanted real adventures to happen to myself. But real adventures, I reflected, do not happen to people who remain at home: they must be sought abroad." His plan is to play truant, walk to the docks along the Liffey, Dublin’s river, cross it by ferry, and walk toward the Pigeon House, Dublin’s power station. The story describes the boys’ excursion and the people they see. They get a glimpse of the world outside Dublin in the foreign sailors at the docks and are exposed to city’s social diversity. They become too tired to go to the Pigeon House and stop to rest. An older man approaches them and begins talk of such mundane subjects as reading Sir Walter Scott and boys having young sweethearts. At one point, the man excuses himself and masturbates. His friend Mahony leaves the boy alone. The man returns and begins a drawn-out monologue on the need to whip boys who misbehave. Deeply unsettled, the boy gets up to leave and calls to Mahony. He’s relieved when his friend comes to him, but also ashamed for having looked down on him.
Joyce’s brother Stanislaus wrote that the story was based on their encounter with an “elderly pederast” while playing truant.[1]
The boys’ journey to the Pigeon House has been interpreted as a futile quest for Ireland’s Church, like the visit to the bazaar “Araby,” and the pervert they encounter has been taken as a counterpart to Father Flynn in “The Sisters.” [2]
encounter, short, story, james, joyce, second, collection, joyce, short, stories, called, dubliners, story, young, boys, experience, eerie, encounter, with, strange, deals, with, themes, such, routine, wanderlust, short, story, james, joycecountryirelandlangua. An Encounter is a short story by James Joyce It is second in a collection of Joyce s short stories called Dubliners In the story two young boys experience an eerie encounter with a strange old man It deals with themes such as routine and wanderlust An Encounter Short story by James JoyceCountryIrelandLanguageEnglishGenre s short storyPublicationPublished inDublinersPublication typeCollectionMedia typePrintPublication date1914Chronology The Sisters Araby Contents 1 The story 2 Adaptation 3 Online texts 4 References 5 External linksThe story editThe story narrated in the first person is about a boy and his friend Mahony taking a day off from school to seek adventure in their dull lives The boy has sought escape from his daily routine in stories of the Wild West and American detective stories and in make believe warfare with his schoolmates However The mimic warfare of the evening became at last as wearisome to me as the routine of school in the morning because I wanted real adventures to happen to myself But real adventures I reflected do not happen to people who remain at home they must be sought abroad His plan is to play truant walk to the docks along the Liffey Dublin s river cross it by ferry and walk toward the Pigeon House Dublin s power station The story describes the boys excursion and the people they see They get a glimpse of the world outside Dublin in the foreign sailors at the docks and are exposed to city s social diversity They become too tired to go to the Pigeon House and stop to rest An older man approaches them and begins talk of such mundane subjects as reading Sir Walter Scott and boys having young sweethearts At one point the man excuses himself and masturbates His friend Mahony leaves the boy alone The man returns and begins a drawn out monologue on the need to whip boys who misbehave Deeply unsettled the boy gets up to leave and calls to Mahony He s relieved when his friend comes to him but also ashamed for having looked down on him Joyce s brother Stanislaus wrote that the story was based on their encounter with an elderly pederast while playing truant 1 The boys journey to the Pigeon House has been interpreted as a futile quest for Ireland s Church like the visit to the bazaar Araby and the pervert they encounter has been taken as a counterpart to Father Flynn in The Sisters 2 Adaptation editIn 2021 an eponymous modern short film adaptation written by Mark O Halloran was released 3 Online texts editAn Encounter From the book Dubliners References edit Joyce Stanislaus 1958 My Brother s Keeper James Joyce s Early Years New York The Viking Press pp 62 63 Retrieved 9 March 2024 Tindall William York 1959 A Reader s Guide to James Joyce London Thames and Hudson pp 17 19 Retrieved 29 February 2024 Mark O Halloran I can never retire I can never afford to be sick I can never falter Independent ie November 5 2021 External links edit nbsp An Encounter public domain audiobook at LibriVox nbsp This article about a short story or stories published in the 1910s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title An Encounter amp oldid 1218922193, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
