James Joyce's Dubliners is a collection of short stories that offers a brief, but intimate window into the lives of a variety of characters, many of whom have nothing in common beyond the fact that they live in Dublin. Men and women of all ages, occupations and social classes are represented in this collection. The stories in Dubliners are often about the ways in which these individuals attempt to escape from the numbness and inertia …showed first 75 words of 1452 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1452 total…can leave her drunken father and go away to Argentina to marry Frank. The background story, which precedes the final lines of the story is essentially designed to convey the weight of the pressure working on Eveline: her family, her history, and her home all compel her to stay, but she feels an overwhelming desire to leave. The story's final outcome is characteristic of all of the stories; no one in Dubliners ever achieves escape.