32 pages • 1 hour read
James JoyceThe Sisters
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1904A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Literary Devices
Stream of Consciousness
Stream of consciousness is a literary device in which a character’s disjointed flow of thought is presented as if the character is in the process of a realistic and organic thought process. Rather than adhering to linear or syntactical rules, stream of consciousness allows an author to present a relatable, in-depth view into a character’s mind. For instance, James Joyce uses stream of consciousness when the narrator is thinking about the paralyzed man before drifting off to sleep:
But the grey face still followed me. It murmured and I understood that it desired to confess something. I felt my soul receding into some pleasant and vicious region and there again I found it waiting for me. It began to confess to me in a murmuring voice and I wondered why it smiled continually and why the lips were so moist with spittle (76-81).
By using stream of consciousness, Joyce creates a relatable experience of a disturbing progression of thoughts, while inspiring empathy for the narrator.
Paradox
Paradox is the pairing of two ideas or images that initially seem to be incompatible, but that may reveal truth or a new idea. In a dark story such as “The Sisters,” paradox can be used to create humor, incongruity, or uncanniness. Two key instances of paradox are related to descriptions of Flynn’s death. When the narrator’s aunt asks if the death was peaceful, Eliza replies: “You couldn’t tell when the breath went out of him. He had a beautiful death, God be praised” (204-06). Similarly, in a statement soon after in the narrative, Eliza notes: “No-one would think he’d make such a beautiful corpse” (215-16). The pairing of seemingly contrary terms of beauty and death/beauty and a dead body cause the reader to interrogate their personal definitions of death and beauty by thinking of them in the same space.
Point of View
The use of first-person point of view means that the reader accesses details only through the narrator’s experiences, thoughts, and memories. The narrator engages in very little contextualization, meaning that any details of Flynn’s character, his relationship with the narrator, and his mental and physical decline remain ambiguous to the reader throughout the story. The reader’s reliance on the narrator also highlights the role and characterization of the narrator’s voice. For example, in response to Eliza’s anecdote about the broken chalice, the aunt says, “—And was that it? […] I heard something…” (287). The unclear use of the pronoun “it,” the reference to rumor, and ellipsis highlight the first-person voice of the author and their shaping of the story. In this example, the rumor remains undisclosed to the reader, demarcating the narrator’s story from the reader’s experience of it. This focus on point of view is an essential part of Joyce’s emphasis on character. Rather than dramatic plot events, the central conflict in “The Sisters” is the drive—which is shared by the narrator, other characters, and the reader—to characterize Flynn and understand what led to his psychological decline.
Dialogue
Rather than using exposition to reveal details, Joyce employs both dialogue and his narrator’s internal monologue. By presenting the events primarily through conversation, Joyce involves the reader in that conversation, while building characterization and plot movement. For example, the key event of Father Flynn’s death is revealed in conversation by the narrator’s uncle: “—Well, so your old friend is gone, you’ll be sorry to hear” (31). The fact that the reader and narrator learn of this event at the same time increases empathy for the narrator. How characters speak and what they choose to say is the primary mode of characterization in “The Sisters,” as very little detail is presented by the narrator from an external point of view.
Joyce’s unorthodox presentation of dialogue is characteristic of the experimental style that he uses throughout his writings. In “The Sisters,” speech is marked with an em dash rather than speech marks. This means that the conclusion of a character’s speech is not as clearly distinguished from the following text as it would be with closing speech marks, making it possible for them to bleed into each other. Particularly in the later works, this technique allows Joyce to push the boundaries of the free indirect discourse technique of literary modernism.
Related Titles
By James Joyce
