A LITTLE CLOUD (KEY THEMES) Flashcards
What are the key themes?
- Moral, intellectual and cultural superority.
- Futility/ fustration
- Realism vs romanticsm
- Friendship (envy)
- Paralysis
Which quote highlights Chandler’s envy?
- “He felt acutley the contrast between his own life and his freinds, it seemed to him unjust…he wished to vindicate himself..to assert his manhood. “
his jealousy sparks comparisons, but not inaction just more paralysis and desire for something more and unreachable without real work/change/
Theological lens of the narrative
- Joyce highlights the moral rot/paralysis caused by envy (deadly sin).
- Chandler’s envy keeps him in a state of turmoil, longing and dissatisfaction much like a spirtual purgatory.
- The baby’s crying could symbolize a divine reckoning, forcing him to confront his moral weakness.
T.S. Eliot → Modern individuals suffer from spiritual emptiness and paralysis, as seen in Chandler’s inertia.
Psychoanalytic Criticism (Freud/Lacan – Repression & Desire)
- Chandler’s inability to act on his poetic aspirations reflects repressed desires and unconscious fears.
- Jacques Lacan → Desire is always unattainable, leaving the subject trapped in longing (like Chandler’s poetic dreams).
“What was it that stood in his way? His unfortunate timidity!”
Post-colonial criticism (Dublin’s cultural inferority)
- Chandler’s longing for London and Paris reflects colonial inferiority ( he sees Dublin as stagnant)
- His sense of identity is fractured by colonial opression)
- “There was no doubt about it: if you wanted to succeed you had to go away. You could do nothing in Dublin.”
Gallagher (though crude) benenfits from imperial privilge abroad
Declan Kiberd → Discusses Irish paralysis in Joyce’s work as a reflection of colonial subjugation.
Devouring Mother- Psychological archetype (Jungian psychology)
- Symbolises a dominant, overbearing maternal figure who controls, suffocates, or represses the growth of her children.
- Annie’s domestic control highlights her emotional domiance/ her affectionate overbearing care for the child (My Little Mannie!) could be seen as an attempt to suffocate/ignore Chandler’s emotional needs.
How does Joyce explore the theme of paralysis?
- Physical domestic paralysis- his home is a symbolic prison for his aspiration (overpowered by his wife/friends/baby)
- Mental paralysis (colonial inferiority)
- Emotional paralysis )fear, envy and inaction)
His home is where is aspirations die
Highlight one quote that highlights the theme of paralysis?
“It was useless. He couldn’t read. He couldn’t do anything..he was a prisoner for life”
How does Joyce explore intellectual, moral, cultural superority?
- Intellectual superiority- Views himself as a senstive, poetic soul, intellectual trapped in the unrefined, rudimentary Ireland.
- Cultural superority- He idealises London and Paris as sites of artistic success/sophistication.
- Moral superority- Judges Gallagers bohemian lifestyle, especially his attitute towards women/ marraige.
Joycean Irony- His sense of superiority is false/fragile as in reality he lacks the courage to act on his dreams, idolises foreign cultures without truly understanding them.
What is one quote that highlights Little Chandler’s superiority?
- “His soul revolted against the dull inelegance of Capel street”
How does Joyce explore the theme of futility?
- Chandler’s dreams of poetic success are unrealized, leading to a sense of meaninglessness, paralysis and futility.
- He is forced between domestic obligations vs personal aspirations- and ocilliates between these two binaries without sense of realization/achievement in either area.
Provide 1 quote that highlights the theme of futility
*He felt how useless it was to struggle against fortune….the burden of wisdom which the ages had bequeathed to him”
How does the Joyce explore the theme of realism vs idealism?
- Chandler has the tendency to romantice his freinds, aspirations and dreams which makes the final image of his powerlessness a crushing symbol of paralysis.
- (Lofty prose-to stream of conciousness style- reflects lack of control)
Name 1 quote that explores realism vs romanticism?
- He was beginning to feel somewhat disillusioned.. there was something vulgar about his friend’
Marxist criticism- A Little Cloud
- Chandler’s poetic aspirations are crushed by capitalist and colonial structures.
- Gallagher, though crude has escaped into the empire and beneifits materially
Fredric Jameson-“All literary works are acts within the class struggle.”
“There was no doubt about it: if you wanted to succeed you had to go away. You could do nothing in Dublin.”-
Existentialism
- He is deeply alienated — from work, wife, self.
- “He was a prisoner for life”
- Sartre – Man is “condemned to be free.” Chandler avoids this responsibility, choosing inaction.
Archetypal / Myth Criticism
- Subverts the “hero’s journey” — Gallaher is a false mentor/prophet/trickster Chandler never begins the journey.
Annie = restrictive maternal archetype;
