Part 3: In which school assignments are relevant.

The third and final story about leaving which I read was "Eveline" by James Joyce. The moment I was assigned to read this in class was the moment I realized that everything I'd been reading recently had been about leaving. Is it a coincidence? I'm still not sure. But I digress.

Eveline spends most of the story staring out of a window and thinking about her life. Her father has not been great to her, treating her differently because she is a girl and taking her wages, and ever since her mother died, she has been counted on to take care of the family. She has decided to leave this life in order to pursue a new one with her lover, Frank, in the far away city of Buenos Aires. She is excited with the prospect of being married, as society wants her to be. Although her father disapproves of Frank, she is determined to leave her mediocre life in order to explore the new possibilities of married life.

However, as she is about to board the boat to Buenos Aires, she realizes that this life, too, will be stifled by the dominance of a male. Frank would have saved her from her old confinements but would also drown her in new ones. He continues to call to her, beckoning to her to follow, but she is unable to move, "passive, like a helpless animal." 

This story, although still about leaving, is a bit less relatable to me. As a girl, the character I would relate to most is definitely Eveline, but I do not feel as if I have a particularly difficult life at home. In some ways, I do think I am stifled by my parents who expect me to do certain things with my life and would like me to focus on some things more than others, but I think that when I leave for college, I WILL be able to experience more freedom. Where I'm going, I won't know anyone, so I will be able to be who I want to be and no one will be able to hold me back from that.

I also know that where I am going is where I want to be for the next four years (or longer!), so I know that I won't be reluctant when it comes time to leave.

When I say that, though, there is a tiny voice in the back of my head saying that Eveline believed that too. She knew that Buenos Aires with Frank was where she wanted to be, but in the end, she wasn't able to go through with it. Although my situation is not as serious as hers, I wonder if I'll feel differently about my life once I move away. But for now, I'm determined to get out of here and into a new and exciting life- far, far away from Delaware.