Mapping Colonialist Control in Joyce's "Eveline"

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1EF3tMWsuv1mPtzBB6ZmYRcdo1KW_23bH...

I created this map to focus on trying to map the colonialist control over Dublin which has a hold on the main character Eveline's life in James Joyce's "Eveline." Because of this, almost all that she hears of the outside world is under colonialist control, and in an effort to escape from this fate, she wishes to flee to Buenos Aires, which is ironically yet another place that was under colonial control. However, despite all of his promises, Frank intends to take her to Liverpool instead, a place in the center of colonist England where she would be without recourse or help and could be easily sold into sex slavery either there, or transported to other ports through the shipping system. I include descriptions of each of the places that are mentioned in the story, and explore how their locations and associations are overt assertions of colonialist control over the people of Dublin and Ireland, and how this encroachment affects Eveline's life and view of the world. I also draw a line showing just how far a ship from Dublin would need to travel in order to reach Buenos Aires, which is in a different hemisphere of the globe altogether.

The star icon is used to indicate Eveline's dream for escape, the place she never gets to reach, Buenos Aires. Circle icons with a small dot in the middle are used to mark locations that represent colonialist control. The home icon is used to show Eveline's home, and where exactly she lived as detailed in the short story. Ordinary icons are used to indicate places that are noteworthy, yet unique in their connotations.

Comments

I was thinking of the term "any port in a storm" in relation to Eveline. In literature, the port is a symbol of safety from the hardships of the sea. Eveline is on land, and while she may be facing hardships, the port is her last place of what is known, her last moment of safety. The sea is a mystery to her, as she has never traveled in her life. She knows so little of the world. Her fiancee has seen the world and it has shaped him, but not for the better. When Eveline clings to the port, her last refrence to what is known, she starts see past that and know her fiancee in a way she did not before. She gains knowledge in her hesitations and uses that moment to freeze and think about these new revelations. Clinging to what you know is a very human trait, and has generally helped survival. But the battle between the need to know and staying in the same place rages on. Danger and risk taking are things we calculate even in our more 'safe' lives, and is not an attribute in people to be overlooked. It is a part of our most primative selves and has not disappeared even in our modern society.