Dubliners

The first three stories in the collection are told from the first-person point of view of a young narrator, while the latter stories center older characters from a third-person perspective. Why do you think the author chose to convey his child protagonists through the first-person voice, and the adult protagonists through the third-person voice? What impact does the shift have on the collection as a whole?

Several of the stories deal with parent-child relationships. In what ways are the various familial dynamics in Dubliners representative of larger systems of authority in the world of the collection? How does Joyce use the relationships between parents and children in his stories to contribute to the collection’s thematic engagement with Imbalances of Power?

Many of these characters fall victim to their own internal failings. Choose a character from one of the stories and explore the ways in which Joyce juxtaposes their external circumstance with their internal failings to form a clear character arc.