Upon my arrival to Dublin I was greeted by a lovely middle aged man who introduced himself to me as Tom Murphy. Mr. Murphy offered to help get me to Trinity College and I was not about to turn down a friendly face with some help. Meeting Mr. Murphy really shocked me because throughout the book Dubliners, Joyce paints quite a depressing picture of the people and of the city of Dublin. My first impression was completely opposite. The city itself was outlined with rolling hills and sunshine. We passed so much history while riding down one of the main streets in Dublin, O'Connell Street. As we rode, Mr. Murphy gave me quite a bit of a traveling tour of what we approached on our way to Trinity. The city, though not many people were up this early, was filled with so much culture and history. In the book Dubliners, Joyce does convey quite a bit of history of the city and as far as the history is considered it hasn't changed much. The city itself though has become metropolitan and is booming with economy. Trinity College is set in the heart of the premiere shopping district in Dublin, which is not good for myself considering I'm what my mother refers to as a shop-a-holic. Joyce described the streets of Dublin in a way that made the city seem somewhat depressing. He described dark and dank alleyways which is not what the tourist of today see. Though the cobblestones are definitely still there, painful feet included. The city has a plethora of places to explore.
So lucky to have met a nice Dubliner! The man sitting next to me on the plane was very loud and rude and had an obvious distaste for Americans.
ReplyDeleteMr. Murphy seems like a nice cheerful fella. Yes Joyce's interpretations of Dublin in a lot of stories made the city seem dull and boring. But in one story, he portrayed it as lively and bright. It was in "Two Gallants" actually.
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