James Joyce "A Little Cloud"
Joyce has given us a confrontation to consider in "A Little Cloud" - when the two worlds of Little Chandler and Gallaher collide. Neither man, it seems to us, could possibly be truly happy. But, it is Chandler's life which we must ultimately question. Just how "trapped" in our lives are we? When is the point-of-no-return? Joyce's take on this question seems to be framed in terms of relative freedom. Gallaher has less education, is lower-born, and is ultimately absolutely free to live his life on his own terms. Little Chandler, however, appears to think that his life is one framed by entrapment, of failure, of being anchored by family and fortune to a single spot. But, as we can determine not only from a careful reading of the story but also criticism, what is at the center of the problem is whether or not we are destined, or pre-destined to follow a particular path, regardless of our individual actions. Chandler's history of conservative living appears to be the true culprit and not his wife or child - they are nothing more (for want of a more gentile term) than a symptom of his greater problems. This dynamic leads us to a psychoanalytic reading of Little Chandler's internal rift. It also shows parallels between Joyce's e
Here, then, Chandler is not part of the real world - but it appears to him that Gallaher is, and has found a way to actually thrive in the filth, finding joy and excitement in the immoral cities of Paris and London. The problem, then, that I see with Chandler is less his symbolic or psychological makeup, it is that he is so much like the relative children that all of us are in this room. The semi-fascination of Chandler with the mystical places of urban life is not genuine, but rather the brand of interest that comes from reading only illicit tales and creating evil where there are just people. The cloud metaphor continues to the end when he is looked upon with hate by his wife after he has attempted the only mollifying thing he can think of - nearly smothering his child to quiet him. For Chandler, I find that my sympathy can't be placed anywhere within this story. He needed Gallaher to come, not to show him up and certainly not to follow in Gallaher's footsteps, but to finally meet his own destiny - that the life of an insignificant and unpublished poet who cannot see the world around him is built upon a foundation as wispy as his hair. He succumbs to the whims of destiny rather than making it work for him. Chandler, indeed, is that cloud who is destined to go wherever the wind takes him, unable to control his path or his life - all he can do is do what a cloud does: fill up with water (whisky) drop his rain (tears), and be surrounded by darker clouds (the cigar smoke). Symbolically, this points to his being disconnected from the earth itself - he steps "deftly" though the detritus of the ground with "no memory of the past". In this work, the critic notes that "The title of 'A Little Cloud' then, enjoins attending to a process rather than to any one point of correspondence to the succession of stages by which the fragile and apprehensive happiness described on the first page drifrs, wavers, thickens, darkens, and breaks down into the tempest of the last page. But, as we see in the story, even though he works, lives, and survives among "all that minute vermin", he does not really see the ground. It is found more in the fact that this character, this man with a wife and child, and a friend who remains free to determine his destiny, is confronted with one of the most significant realities that any of us will face in our lifetime - what is the meaning of our life and how important can we possibly be if we aren't important to ourselves? Gallaher's gregarious garrulity is made evident in every sentence - he lives life on his own terms (whether he is truthful or not makes little difference) and knows that he is in some way, significant. In this, then, Chandler is unable to do anything other than write useless poetry - symbolically, poets have long been looked upon as the lowliest of writers as anyone could create a rhyme. This story is not a cautionary tale, it does not have a moral. The very fact that he can be so accurately summed up in so few words shows just how inconsequential Little Chandler is.
Common topics in this essay:
Chandler Gallaher,
Paris London,
Little Chandler,
Little Cloud,
Instead Chandler,
Little Cloud',
Little Chandler's,
Cordell Yee,
Empirical Strikes,
little chandler,
,
little cloud,
wife child,
own terms,
life own terms,
chandler life,
chandler gallaher,
cloud title,
chandler indeed,
life own,
|
Acceptance Essays
