However, t is extremely important to remember that Barrington is sinned against as well as sinning: that he is a product as well as a perpetrator of the paralysis of Dublin. Like other Edibleness, Barrington is trapped by the Irish nets of religion, language, and nationality. In fact, Ireland’s misgovernment by English law is illustrated by the story of Affirmation’s mistreatment, so that Affirmation’s inarticulate rage against innocent bystanders is comprehensible, if not exonerated, on political grounds. The reader is introduced to Barrington. A red-faced gigantic man who Joyce instantly portrays as heavy, plodding, drooping, and ruddy. When he stood up he was tall and of great bulk. He had a hanging face, dark wine-colored, with fair eyebrows and moustache: his eyes bulged forward slightly and the whites of them were dirty. ” The hugeness of his physique is thus contrasted to the tedium tot his work. The mundane task of duplication neither allows him any mental exercise nor demands any physical exertion, The energy thus remains bottled within the humongous frame, which then takes the shape tot relentless vitriol. While the monotony of this job enrages him, Barrington envisions release room such deadening activity in the warmth and drink of public houses.
But his experiences there only beget further routine. Following the “round” tradition in which each person in a group takes turns buying drinks for all companions present, he continually spends money and consumes more alcohol. The presence of Weathers, vivo takes advantage of this system, makes Barrington realize how such tradition and repetition literally rob him. His anger mounts throughout the story. His pawning of his watch may symbolically release him from the shackles f schedules and time demands, but the frustrations Of work only take on new and more extreme forms at the pub and at home.
For Barrington, life repeats itself: work is like the pub is like home. Thus the root Of Apparition’s problem is his inability to realize the maddening circularity that defines his days. He consistently makes life worse for himself, not better. He slips away from work as he pleases. Insults his boss, and matter-of-faculty pawns his watch to buy alcohol. Though each small rebellion makes him momentarily happy, the displaced rage imply reappears someplace else, usually exacerbated by his actions.
Barrington shows what can happen when a life consists primarily of mindless repetition: sooner or later violence will surface, and those vivo witness or are subject to the violence may themselves act violently in the future. Apparition’s explosive violence sets him apart from some of the other characters in Edibleness, Who often accept routine and boredom as facts Of life and do little to upset the balance familiarity and calm theft established. Joyce remarked in a letter to Australians, “l am no friend of tyranny, as you know, UT if many husbands are brutal the atmosphere in which they live is brutal. It is clear that religion and society trap Barrington in an unhappy marriage where “he loathed returning to his home… {since} his wife was a little sharp. Faced woman who bullied her husband when he was sober. ” However, the humiliating and impotent experience of colonial oppression that we see in Counterparts is what predominantly serves to enrage this man and brings about his ignominy, In the hour leading up it his brutal attack, Barrington suffers multiple defeats all of which are notably at the hands of the British or those loyal to Britain, magnifying his impassions standing.
Affirmation’s first defeat in Counterparts comes at the hands of his boss Mr. Allen, who has a “piercing North of Ireland accent”. Though he is Irish, Allen’s northern accent means that in all probability he would be in favor of Protestantism and English rule and therefore an agent of the oppressor. In response, Affirmation’s toddy ached to do something to rush out and revel in violence. All the indignities of his life enraged him… ” Clearly, Jockey’s use of the ellipsis indicates that these unnamed indignities go beyond merely those described in the narrative and surely include the plight of his home-life and that of his subjugated nation.
Affirmation’s next defeats come in the pub at the hands Of the British acrobat and artiste Weathers. The financially strapped Barrington, who had pawned his watch to fund that evenings drinking, reluctantly stands two rounds Of Weathers’ expensive, imported “Whiskey and Pollinates” and later “Barrington was just standing another round when Weathers came back”. The allegory here between Weathers’ pilfering of drinks ND his nation’s thievery of Irish resources – such as the destruction of nearly all Ireland’s forests for lumber. Is obvious. Just like his nation, Weathers bleeds the Irishman dry.
Barrington further loses to Weathers in an arm wrestling match, and is unable to “uphold the national honor” in the match of strength – a clear microcosm of the colonial struggle between these men’s combatant lands, The lack of reciprocation from the lady with a “London accent” in the pub, adds on to Barrington’5 humiliation in this colonial society, Thus, though he burns with anger at these failures, the power structure of is own lot in life and that of colonial Ireland precludes any release upon the oppressors who actually are the cause of this rage; therefore this frustration becomes displaced upon the only person Barrington can master in this colonial society ? his helpless son. With Barrington, Joyce is showing that Irish brutality and intemperance find their roots deeply entrenched within the colonial experience. While the colonial factor cannot and should not exonerate Barrington, they certainly do illuminate the causes of his disturbing actions and illustrate Britain’s culpable role in the paralysis of Dublin.
