Neither the child nor the adults added to the readers' understanding of the plot.

'

written by Anna Pietruszka

‘The Sisters’ is a short story by Joyce which tells the story of death, but is it an
ordinary death of an ordinary person? Definitely not, everybody who reads it has mixed
feeling about the plot. Whether the child was too much under the dead priest’s influence or
people had too much prejudice against the clergyman. The plot is not easy to follow, despite
the fact, that it is told from a child’s perspective. Moreover, neither the child nor the adults
added to the understanding of the plot.
To start with the child’s point of view. The boy is not aware of the true nature of the
priest. The clergyman was his teacher. He taught him ‘a great deal’1, for this reason the boy is
really grateful to the priest. He sees only the good virtues in his teacher. The boy is an
inexperienced narrator, who does not understand the priest’s behaviour and illness. He is the
child and a child is not able to distinguish bad from good. Moreover, as stated in an article
entitled ‘The Dubliners’2 ‘because of his youth, the boy is an honest but unreliable narrator’.
The child does not posses any wisdom of adults. The readers are only exposed to the surface
description of the priest. We get to know that the clergyman was a strict and fair teacher and
taught the boy many things. Yet, nothing more about the character of the clergyman is
revealed by the boy. Undoubtedly. the child is too young to understand the priest’s illness and
depression.
With references to a previous idea, a quote from ‘The Sisters’3: ‘he had taught me a
great deal. He had studied in the Irish college in Rome and he had taught me to pronounce
Latin properly. He had told me stories about the catacombs and about Napoleon Bonaparte,
and he had explained to me the meaning of the different ceremonies of the Mass and of the
different vestments worn by the priest’ may indicate that the child adds to the understanding
of the plot, because he explains how much the priest taught him. However, it is only partially
true. The boy appreciates the knowledge he received from the priest but he does not give the
readers insight into the priest’s character. The readers are only left with the bare facts that he
was his teacher and taught him a lot. Nothing about the true nature of the priest is expressed
by the boy. For this reason it is widely seen that the boy did not add to the understanding of
the plot.
At the beginning of this short story, the readers are exposed to the positive opinion
about the priest. The boy seems to like the clergyman, however, with time such judgment
fades away. As to quote the boy: ’discovering in myself a sensation of freedom as if I had
been freed from something by his death.’4 The readers are confused and cannot distinguish
whether the priest was a mentor to the boy or a bad influence. Moreover, at first the boy
explains his doubts and comment on the adults’ conversation. He considers situation which
happened in his mind and thinks over all the words he heard. Unfortunately, with time such
expressions disappear and we are not exposed to the child’s opinions and thoughts. A quote
from an article entitled ‘Dubliners Summary and Analysis5 ‘ fully comprehend to previously
mentioned idea:’ towards the end of the story, he stops interpreting the information he
receives. He listens to the conversation between his mother and the two sisters, but he does
not draw any conclusions from it’. Such effects also unable the readers to understand the
whole action completely.
1
‘The Sisters ’ by Joyce
2
http://www.gradesaver.com/dubliners/study-guide/section1/
3
‘The Sisters ’ by Joyce
4
‘The Sisters ’ by Joyce
5
http://www.gradesaver.com/dubliners/study-guide/section1/

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 As far as the adults are concerned, they also do not add to the understanding of the
plot. First and foremost, they do not say exactly what has happened to the priest. Opinions
that’ there was something uncanny about him’ are expressed freely. The adults only state that
he might have mental problems. Even the priest’s sister, Eliza, breaks her speech whenever
she is going to say something that may be considered as disdainful about the dead priest. The
receivers of the story do not know for sure if the priest set a bad example to the child or not.
The uncle of the boy appreciates the friendship between the priest and his relative 6’The
youngster and he were great friends. The old chap taught him a great deal, mind you; and they
say he had a great wish for him’ .On the other hand, a friend of the family’s (Old Cotter) is
against such close relationship between the clergyman and the boy. He states that the child
should spend time with boys at his age and not with an experienced ,old priest. The readers
are puzzled and do not know whom to believe. Moreover, Old Cotter’s speech is full of
unfinished sentences and pauses. He wanted to say something about the true nature of the
priest, but the boy’s presence unabled him to tell the truth about the clergyman. The readers
cannot interpret his words fully as nothing more is mentioned by the speaker. He leaves the
sentences in half.
In addition to the this, the adults were prejudiced against the priest. The clergyman
was Catholic and the author was deeply anti-catholic. From all the conversations between the
adults a negative attitude towards the priest is expressed. Even the great friendship between
the cleric and the boy is put into question. Old Cotter suggests that the clergyman had been a
bad example from which the boy was freed.
Joyce includes symbolism in his short story. This also makes the story difficult to
understand. Without knowledge what symbols as breaking the chalice mean the readers are
not able to understand the story fully. What is more, the priest’s paralysis refers also to the
paralysis of the Catholic religion and people’s disappointment. The Church is symbolized by
the priest because he stands for all the clergy of the Catholic Church. He followed the rules of
the church, he has tried to teach young boys, however, he did not manage to succeed.
Although the adults were grateful that the priest taught the boy they were not able to withdraw
the prejudice they felt towards a Catholic priest. The readers do not know whether they should
believe in their opinions as they were anti-Catholic people and saw only bad sides in the
priest’s behaviour.
‘The Sister’ is a short story that is full of symbolism and references to the Catholic
religion. It is told by a child, however the language used by the narrator is an adult one. The
boy’s narration is vivid at the beginning, but towards the end it changes. The narrator does not
express his opinions and felling anymore, only bare facts are left to the readers. For these
reasons the plot is difficult to follow. The adults do not help the reader understand the plot,
either. To sum up, the receivers of the short story cannot fully believe none of the sides who
describe the priest. As the boy treated the clergyman as a mentor and was grateful for the
knowledge he received and adults looked only on strange behaviour of the priest and were
prejudiced against the Catholic clergyman.

Bibliography
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‘The Sisters ’ by Joyce

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1. Joyce J., ‘The Sisters’ [http://www.readbookonline.net/read/154/4457/]
2. http://www.gradesaver.com/dubliners/study-guide/section1/