Counterparts

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1914

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Themes

Colonialism and Internalized Inferiority

Ireland’s history as part of the British empire traces back to the 12th century. British rule lasted until Ireland reclaimed independence for most of the country in 1921, excluding Northern Ireland, which remained part of the UK. When King Henry VII imposed Protestantism as the new faith of England, most Irish Catholics didn’t follow suit, thus creating a religious divide to add to differences between the Irish and English. Over time, Scottish and English Protestants intentionally settled in Ireland, creating an Irish Protestant population that maintained social, political, and economic power over Catholics. British rule and lack of Irish autonomy created a culture of displacement and lowered class among the Irish Catholics. The irony of feeling like a second-class citizen within one’s own home country is a common phenomenon among colonized people throughout the world, and it is a sensation present throughout “Counterparts.” It is not uncommon for colonized people to internalize feelings of inferiority or prejudice, and this phenomenon is a common contemporary feature of postcolonial studies.

In James Joyce’s Dubliners, most of his characters are of the Irish Catholic majority, and with very few exceptions, they are working class. For the minority of native Irish who identified as Protestant, they enjoyed an elevated socioeconomic status. This unfair disparity is the origin of animosity, not just from the point of view of Irish people against their British oppressors, but also a point of division between Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants. Mr. Alleyne’s accent is Northern Irish, which combined with his class implies he is likely Protestant, and this grants him an inflated sense of superiority over the Catholic men like Farrington who work for him. The fact that he is introduced through his accent first, as he yells for his secretary to send Farrington to his office, highlights that this is both a primary element of his character and Farrington’s dynamic with him. Throughout “Counterparts,” Mr. Alleyne’s discourse toward Farrington implies that he considers the man his inferior. There is an implied cultural racism as when he insinuates that Farrington is lazy. He has no qualms with telling Farrington, “Are you going to stand there all the day? Upon my word, Farrington, you take things easy!” (71). Mr. Alleyne’s insinuation is a character attack that is later reaffirmed when he calls Farrington a “Ruffian,” indicating his lack of consideration of Farrington as his equal, not only in terms of employment, but as a human being.

Later in the pub, the woman that Farrington finds attractive is remarked as having a London accent, and she hardly acknowledges Farrington, let alone offers him the sexual gratification he seeks. This blatant disinterest in him could contribute to feelings of inferiority on an individual level, but it aligns with a more collective English overpowering of Farrington when combined with Mr. Alleyne and Weathers, a British citizen who travels with a theater company. When he is introduced through a mutual acquaintance to Farrington’s group, he is invited to drink with them. When Weathers is unable to finish his alcohol at the same pace as the Irish men, he refuses the next round, “protesting that the hospitality was too Irish” (78), the implication being that the men of Ireland overindulge in their drinking habits. When some of Weathers’s fellow performers arrive at the pub, he salutes them. The gesture is informal, and while none of the actors are actively in the military, the salute serves as a reminder that they recognize each other as fellow countrymen.

Overall, the English people within the story serve to demean, insult, and disempower Farrington, who acts as a stand-in for the common Irish man (as he is most often simply referred to as “the man”). Their casual social and economic power over him develops a strong sense of inferiority, which he takes to heart instead of acknowledging the obvious flaws in the system at large. His insecurity and lack of self-awareness lead to him being an angry, abusive alcoholic, still stuck in the depressing routine of life in a colonized nation.

The Passage of Time

As an adult character in middle age, the implication is that Farrington is past the apex of his life’s years and what remains before him is the decline toward death. Time passing gives an urgency to the short story as a reminder that the circle motif that has recurred throughout “Counterparts” also applies to the life cycle.

The arc of the Dubliners stories begins and ends with death. The first story of the collection, “The Sisters,” opens with a boy learning that a priest who befriended him has died. The final chapter is titled “The Dead,” and it closes with the protagonist, Gabriel, contemplating the finality of all of humanity as he watches the snow fall from his window. But Farrington lacks the naïve innocence of the unnamed boy in “The Sisters” and the perceptive sensitivity of Gabriel in “The Dead”. Instead, Farrington resists the realities of his advanced age, procrastinates, and misses the deadlines assigned to him at work. Mr. Alleyne criticizes Farrington’s abuse of the amount of time he takes for his lunch break, telling him, “[Y]ou get a half an hour for your lunch and not an hour and a half. How many courses do you want, I’d like to know?” (71). This is the first suggestion that Farrington is not carrying out the duties of his job assignments and instead escapes to the pub to drink. While he is out of the office, he rushes, and this builds tension in the story.

Farrington crosses a point of no return in his disregard for the passage of time when he sells his watch. His need for alcohol causes such myopic thinking that he believes pawning his watch is a reasonable idea, giving him great relief without any qualms of the consequences. It is common for men to pass their watches on to their sons, but Farrington’s addiction and need to alleviate the abuses of his day override his care or awareness of his own legacy. The watch is a lasting object of value, and the money he gets for it slips away within hours. The impact of wastefulness is compounded by the reminder that time will roll forward regardless of one’s actions. Notably, despite Farrington’s willingness to waste his time, he shows an implicit ire for the young, as Weathers and Farrington’s son, Tom, receive the largest shows of physical aggression. This speaks to his underlying envy and insecurity about his increasing age. In the more literal sense, though, and the symbolic decision to base “Counterparts” around the cycle of a single day, the story ends with Farrington leaving the pub to return home, as the sun will inevitably rise on a new day.

Masculinity, Irish Identity, and Pub Culture

Irish pub culture in “Counterparts” portrays a mostly male environment where all members contribute to the atmosphere for the amusement and entertainment of their group. This is not a setting where solitary figures drink alone; rather, the pub in “Counterparts” requires its men to bring something to the party for the benefit of the group. A man might bring an instrument or recite a poem, or in the case of Farrington, tell an entertaining story about giving his boss a piece of his mind. Farrington’s drinking friends appreciate the story because they are similarly demeaned by their bosses, and it perfectly expresses their own desires to stand up to their employers (or in a thematic context, for working class Irishmen to stand up to upper class Protestants or Englishmen). Farrington is rewarded for his storytelling by having drinks purchased for him. He’s encouraged to retell it, and the group rehashes it by comparing it to times when they similarly, although not as blatantly, stood up to their own bosses. The pub is a space wherein Irishmen can convene without the oppressive presence of outsiders, in this case English, Northern Irish, or Protestant people. Weathers’s invasion of the space represents Farrington’s feelings of joy or comfort being disrupted by these outsiders.

The attitude In the pub is one of camaraderie, but also one of power and status. Farrington gains attention by showing how he rejected the dominance of his boss, establishing himself as a man to be respected. All of the men defer to him and praise him in light of this story. Later, when he sees an attractive woman, he begins watching her suggestively. Women were largely not allowed into pubs in Ireland in this era, and the presence of one is potentially due to the urban setting. His attention makes her uncomfortable, and she ignores him as she leaves, providing an example of how women were shut out of these environments. This sexual rejection makes Farrington feel less powerful, setting up the bitterness that will be brought to a head by Weathers.

There is an etiquette to buying rounds of drinks among the men, but Farrington’s internal dialogue is consumed with keeping track of the expense of the rounds. He feels exploited when it is his turn to buy a round and Weathers orders a costlier drink. What should be a generous gesture is tainted for Farrington, because the whole practice is beyond his means. However, as a member of Dublin society, he knows the unspoken rules of pub culture, and it would be anti-social to excuse himself from participating in the practice of picking up the rounds. His preoccupation with the cost of Weathers’s drinks pulls him out of what should be a festive mood: “If there was one thing he hated it was a sponge. He was so angry that he lost count of the conversation with his friends” (79). He is unable to set aside his distraction, and even though Farrington goes through the motions of belonging to the group, his inner thoughts reveal his separation from his community. Farrington’s anger is displaced: Although he should be taking responsibility for his excessive spending and alcoholism, he instead projects his rage outward in the form of blame toward Weathers. Their arm-wrestling contest is a blatant and physical show of masculinity, and Farrington’s two losses make him lose the powerful status he had only just gained in his friends’ eyes. This wounds his pride and causes him to lose his temper. By conflating these incidents of toxic masculinity and the implicit struggle of an Irish man against English antagonists, all housed within the common Irish establishment of a pub, Joyce grapples with some of the difficulties and nuances of Irish nationalist identity that surface in response to colonial oppression.