Blog #5

"When he gained the crest of the Magazine Hill he halted and looked along the river towards Dublin, the lights of which burned redly and hospitably in the cold night. He looked down the slope and, at the base, in the shadow of the wall of the Park, he saw some human figures lying. Those venal and furtive loves filled him with despair. He gnawed the rectitude if his life; he felt that he had been outcast from life's feast... He felt that he was alone." (A Painful Case)

Mr. Duffy is a man who doesn't like change and lives a life of consistincy and plainess. His first real relationship that he has is with Mrs. Sinico, but he doesn't realize the benefits of it, just the uncomfortable situations he put him in. After learning that she dies of a broken heart, he's walking in the park and see these lovers. They are not really specific people, but rather human figures that make the scene universal. It conveys the theme of love and its bitter woes and sweet highs. Seeing the lovers reminds Mr. Duffy of his self-imposed exclusion from companionship. The diction of this quote articulates Mr. Duffy's relentless spite for physical expression with others. The words describe the situation as sort of fleshly and secretive as the lovers are in the shadows. The theme of life and death and their cycles is displayed. Mr. Duffy sees the living, is reminded of the dead Mrs. Sinico by the lovers, and thinks about his own life. Mr. Duffy's circular thoughts bring back all the repetitve things that comprise his life and that made no space for the sharing of feelings.

The imagery of eating in this quote suggests the importance of reciprocity and union that is so absent in this story. The physical act of eating is an activity that Mr. Duffy tries to control. Yet Mr. Duffy must "gnaw on his rectitude" because he has nothing else and because his rectitude is the root of his exclusion. In living in such a restrained way, he can't tolerate the change that love brings or the emotional output that is demanded. As a result, Mr. Duffy must watch others feast and share in the consumption of the many things the world has to offer, while he remains alone.