Junyoung Ro World Lit Journal

 What I want to compare and contrast between Joyce and Chekhov is how they say about love. In 'Lady with the dog', Gurov is obsessed with the lady and always tries to follow her. And finally, there was a part about thinking about their future. In 'Eveline', Eveline loved Frank but she had a confusion so she didn't follow Frank and ran away.  I think there is a difference because of the analysis and the social background. First, in the analysis, Joyce's ending is more opened than Chekhov's. Like other stories in Dubliners, Joyce is trying the readers to make creative thoughts from his story. Chekhov is also making to think but I think it is less than Joyce's  Next, the social background can make this difference. I think Ireland in the early 20th century is more closed than Russia in the late 19th century. Ireland is related to the catholic, which is unsociable. So this can be the reason why James Joyce is making a big open ending than Chekhov. (171 words)

  Eveline, By James Joyce (1914) Rating: 7.5/10 In this story, I thought about the description of dead people by the narrator. I searched for some information about forms of death and found out that marriage could be a death in 20th century Dublin. Death means the end of one life and the beginning of a new life in Catholicism. Marriage is the ending of a solo and the beginning of partners. I think this is the reason why Eveline didn't follow Frank in the end. She might have thought living in a solo could be better that day. If he run away, his father could do something for families who were left in Dublin. Also, her trust in Frank was not that high. Her father said, "I know these sailor chaps." She might have heard it as a joke, but at the harbor, the word may be offensive so she didn't follow Frank. The reason why I rated 7.5 is the plot was too speedy to understand fully. Also, the easter eggs in this story were difficult for me to know well. Reading this time, I wa...

  An Encounter, By James Joyce (1914)  Rating: 8/10 The most sympathized part was to get out of the routine. Living in KMLA in a strict routine, makes me deviate. In this short story, the narrator and his friend Mahony make a deviation and wander around Dublin. And then they see many people and places and meet a man. I think this man has bad thoughts. He is so conservative. Maybe it is because of the Irish religion. Catholic is one of the strict and conservative religions that I know, so this man may be influenced by the religion. I liked this quote from the story. "But real adventures, I reflected, do not happen to people who remain home: they must be sought abroad." I think this is like a hint of this full story. Because of this thought, the narrator could break away and see the society, meet a man that was an encounter. From this encounter, the narrator could feel better about his friend.  I think both <An Encounter> and <Araby> are similar as a growth stor...

  Araby, By James Joyce (1914) Rating: 9/10 My step of the hero's journey is No.7 Approach to the innermost cave. I think in this short story, there is a hero's journey. The main chatacter was first just attracted to Mangan's sister. However, after going to the Araby, he finds out that the world is not like his illusion and she has no interest in him. The 7th stage of the hero's journey is that when he said he wanted to go to Araby to his uncle.  The reason I rated this story 9 is I liked the grow of the main character. He is just a teenager so he might see the world as a illusion. He is a power 'N' in the MBTI personality test. However, after finding the unconcern of the people in the bazaar, and the Araby is not a fancy place like he thought, he was shocked. After that, he thought that his love was in one-way, and he may give up his love. This part was the favorite part. This felt really like a growth story of a teenage boy. (178 words)

  The Sisters, By James Joyce (1914) Rating: 6.5/10 I wanted to talk about Flynn's confess. In the story, there is no answer of what Flynn confessed. However, through reading the story, there were hints. For example, old Cotter doesn't like the relationship between the narrator and Flynn. And, the sisters also talk about the confess. What I think is that Flynn did something wrong to the narrator, so he comes out in the narrator's dream and keeps it reminded.  The reason I rated this story 6.5 is I read this three times but it is stil difficult for me to understand. I can't know what the death of Flynn symbols. And also I don't know a lot of the Irish culture so it makes me difficult too. (119 words)

  The Black Monk, By Anton Chekhov Rating : 7.5/10 It was little longer than other short stories, but the development was good to concentrate. I thought about why Covrin could see the black monk alone. I think it was because of his illness. The monk said Covrin is a genius, but he is too sacrifising his body and the monk felt pity of Covrin. The quote of external life and enjoyment also reminded me. I think Covrin was enjoying his life with Tanya, but after Tanya treated him, his life was not filled up with enjoyment. So this might be the reason that the black monk appeared again at the hotel, and Covrin died with a smile. I think Covrin knew that he will die and that was the reason why he was smiling when he was dead. (129 words)

  Gooseberries, By Anton Chekhov (1898) Rating: 8/10   I was very impressed about the little hammer knocking. Before I read this short story, I couldn't think about who were marginalized from happiness. I just thought if I am happy, then everyone near me are all happy. This story has changed my life.   And I thought about why Ivan said "if I were young!" I think Ivan is envy of his brother. His brother had a long long dream of having his own house with gooseberry bushes. And finally, he earned his dream. I could see that Ivan is stressed of it. If he was young, he could do what he wants and live happy like his brother. He must be the marginalized from happiness.    The reason I rated this short story 8 out of 10 is because the expression that I mentioned above moved my heart. It felt like a moral to me. (145 words)