7/28/2019 Dubliners a Painful Case Summary

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Dubliners A Painful Case Summary

James Duffy lives in a distant suburb of Dublin calledChapelizodbecause he wants tobe far away from the city.

The only unique things about his apartment are the bookshelf and a writing deskthisis a smart guy.

Duffy's temperament is "saturnine," which is basically like saying he's determined to besad. His face is unfriendly, even "harsh."

Aren't the eyes the window to the soul, though? Well, Duffy's "gave the impression of aman ever alert to greet a redeeming instinct in others but often disappointed." (Here's afun little game: try making your eyes look like this.) (A Painful Case.2)

Duffy works in a bank, and his schedule never changes. He rides there in the morning,goes to lunch at the same place every day and then, before heading home alone, heeats dinner and reads the paper at the same restaurant every evening.

He plays piano at night and sometimes goes out to hear classical music. But that'sabout it for entertainment.

No friends, either. And he hardly sees his family, and doesn't really care too muchabout them. Here's the key line describing Duffy's life up until now: "His life rolled out

evenlyan adventureless tale" (A Painful Case.4). Until something happens. The woman next to him at the opera house speaks to him. She's Emily Sinico. They

strike up a conversation and Mr Duffy is surprised that she's not "awkward." He noticesthat she has a daughter and that she has an "intelligent" face (A Painful Case.6).Maybe she won't disappoint him?

They meet at two more concerts, and talk at each. Then, Mr Duffy invites her over tohis house. "This was the first of many meetings" (A Painful Case.8).

They even start meeting at her house, and it doesn't even bother her husband, CaptainSinico.

Mr Duffy jaws about books and ideas a lot, but Mrs Sinico starts talking to him aboutpersonal stuff, too. At least eventually. Finally, Mr Duffy comes around, too: "Little bylittle, as their thoughts entangled, they spoke of subjects less remote." (A Painful

Case.11) All these talks come to an end one night when Mrs Sinico reacts to one of his phrases

differently: she "caught up his hand passionately and pressed it to her cheek" (APainful Case.11). Whoa there. Scandalous.

Mr Duffy doesn't visit for a week and then decides to have a last meeting with her inpublic so it doesn't get too messy. She sends him back his books and that's that.

After that, life goes on as it always did for Mr Duffy. He's back to his old routine of goingto work and walking home.

Until one night when he reads about Mrs Sinico's death in the newspaper. She hadbeen "knocked down by the engine of the ten o'clock slow train from Kingstown,thereby sustaining injuries of the head and right side which led to her death" (A PainfulCase.16).

The article goes on to explain that the real blame lay with Mrs Sinico and not with thetrain. She was out "late at night" and had "been in the habit of crossing the lines []from platform to platform" (A Painful Case.24). Her daughter even testifies that she'drecently started drinking a lot.

Mr Duffy's first reaction is disgust: "she had degraded him." He regrets ever gettinginvolved, wondering, "Was it possible he had deceived himself so utterly about her?" (APainful Case.29).

Then he thinks about it more and, as he goes in to get a drink at a pub, he remembersthe whole relationship.

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7/28/2019 Dubliners a Painful Case Summary

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