Clay

by

James Joyce

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Clay Symbol Icon

In the Hallow Eve game depicted in the story, finding a lump of clay symbolizes a player’s impending death. However, for Maria—who finds herself in the unfortunate position of selecting the clay—this may not represent literal death, but instead the death of her dreams for the future and the total stagnation of her life. While Maria wants to feel a sense of belonging (both through marriage and through connections to friends), she struggles throughout the story to acknowledge these desires, let alone to act on them. Because she is so hesitant to ever admit what she wants, it seems that her life might never change for the better (this is apparent in her refusal to live with Joe Donnelly, even though he repeatedly invites her and it seems as though she might like to accept). It is in this context that Maria selects the clay, which—although it foretells death—seems unlikely to point to Maria’s literal death. Maria, after all, examines her body earlier in the story and suggests that, even if she’s aging, she’s still perfectly healthy. Instead, the clay seems to suggest that, figuratively, her hopes for the future have died, and her life will continue on exactly as it is until the end. If Maria were able to articulate her desires and act on them to try to change her life, then she might have hope for the future. However, Joyce emphasizes the unlikeliness of this when Maria cannot even acknowledge that she has selected the clay: she never names it, instead thinking of it merely as a “soft wet substance,” which shows her inability to admit to her own unhappiness, an essential step in changing her life for the better. Her selection of the clay, alongside her inability to name it, suggests that her future is likely bleak—her life will continue in the same unhappy manner until she dies.

Clay Quotes in Clay

The Clay quotes below all refer to the symbol of Clay. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Loneliness and Estrangement Theme Icon
).
Clay Quotes

They led her up to the table amid laughing and joking and she put her hand out in the air as she was told to do. She moved her hand about here and there in the air and descended on one of the saucers. She felt a soft wet substance with her fingers and was surprised that nobody spoke or took off her bandage. There was a pause for a few seconds; and then a great deal of scuffling and whispering […] Maria understood that it was wrong that time and so she had to do it over again: and this time she got the prayer-book.

Related Characters: Maria, Joe Donnelly, Mrs. Donnelly, Next-Door Girls
Related Symbols: Blindfold, Clay
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 101
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Clay LitChart as a printable PDF.
Clay PDF

Clay Symbol Timeline in Clay

The timeline below shows where the symbol Clay appears in Clay. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Clay
Loneliness and Estrangement Theme Icon
Sadness and Repression Theme Icon
Paralysis and Stagnation Theme Icon
...Maria laughs as they blindfold her. Once blindfolded, Maria places her hand on a “ soft wet substance .” She is “surprised” that everyone is silent and that they have not taken off... (full context)