An Encounter
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| "An Encounter" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Short story by James Joyce | |||
| Country | Ireland | ||
| Language | English | ||
| Genre(s) | short story | ||
| Publication | |||
| Published in | Dubliners | ||
| Publication type | Collection | ||
| Media type | |||
| Publication date | 1914 | ||
| Chronology | |||
| |||
"An Encounter" is a short story by James Joyce. It is second in a collection of Joyce's short stories called Dubliners. In the story, two young boys experience an eerie encounter with a strange, old man. It deals with themes such as routine and wanderlust.
The story
The story, narrated in the first person, is about a boy and his friend Mahony taking a day off from school to seek adventure in their dull lives. The narrator says, "The mimic warfare of the evening became at last as wearisome to me as the routine of school in the morning because I wanted real adventures to happen to myself. But real adventures, I reflected, do not happen to people who remain at home: they must be sought abroad."
The story describes the boys’ excursion and the people they see. They are exposed to the social diversity of Dublin. For example, the boys are mistaken for Protestants by some local children, and the narrator observes that many of the children are "ragged" and extremely poor.
Near the end of their day, the boys are approached by an older man who gives them an odd feeling. Previously, it seems to the reader that the man had been 'sizing them up' and then began to talk of mundane subjects, such as Sir Walter Scott and young sweethearts. At one point, the man excuses himself and it is implied [citation needed] that he masturbates before returning to the boys. He then begins a drawn-out monologue on the subject of whipping and other such corporal punishments. Deeply unsettled, the narrator looks to his friend Mahony for comfort, although he admits to harboring negative feelings about his friend.
Joyce’s brother Stanislaus wrote that the story was based on their encounter with an “elderly pederast” while playing truant.[1]
The boys’ journey to the Pigeon House has been interpreted as a futile quest for Ireland’s Church, like the visit to the bazaar “Araby,” and the pervert they encounter has been taken as a counterpart to Father Flynn in “The Sisters.” [2]
Adaptation
In 2021, an eponymous modern short film adaptation, written by Mark O'Halloran, was released.[3]
Online texts
- An Encounter – From the book Dubliners.
References
- ^ Joyce, Stanislaus (1958). My Brother's Keeper: James Joyce's Early Years. New York: The Viking Press. pp. 62–63. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
- ^ Tindall, William York (1959). A Reader's Guide to James Joyce. London: Thames and Hudson. pp. 17–19. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
- ^ "Mark O'Halloran: 'I can never retire. I can never afford to be sick, I can never falter'". Independent.ie. November 5, 2021.
External links
An Encounter public domain audiobook at LibriVox
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