Counterparts

by

James Joyce

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Resentment, Anger, and Indignity Theme Analysis

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Resentment, Anger, and Indignity Theme Icon
Fantasy, Reality, and Escapism Theme Icon
Masculinity Theme Icon
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Counterparts, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Resentment, Anger, and Indignity Theme Icon

James Joyce’s “Counterparts” follows a hapless legal clerk names Farrington, who comes to resent the (perceived or real) injustices inflicted upon him. He is, at least in his mind, bullied and hounded by his boss, Mr. Alleyne, into copying a monotonous contract. He is ignored by a woman in a pub on whom he has his eye. He is beaten in an arm-wrestling match by an English “artiste” named Weathers, whom he considers beneath him in both strength and appearance. To top it all, he spends all of his money on alcohol and has a night of dreadful humiliation and disappointment. While Farrington is in some ways the cause of his own troubles—choosing, for instance, to spend all of his money on alcohol—Joyce highlights that there is a deeper force driving Farrington’s anger, and that’s indignity. Farrington feels emasculated and insulted by everyone around him, which Joyce uses to highlight how Ireland has been emasculated and insulted at the hands of the British.

Joyce suggests that the root cause of Farrington’s resentment is the indignity he suffers in just about every area of his life, but this indignity is especially pronounced in his workplace. The story begins with an almost comic set-up: an unhappy employee berated by an irate boss. Anger is everywhere from the first line, as a bell rings “furiously” and the “furious” voice of Mr. Alleyne calls out for Farrington. After receiving a severe scolding the first time, a “spasm of rage gripped [Farrington’s] throat for a few moments and then pass[es], leaving after it a sharp sensation of thirst,” and after his final argument with Mr. Alleyne, Farrington “long[s] to execrate aloud, to bring his fist down on something violently. His body ached to do something […] The barometer of his emotional nature was set for a spell of riot.” By the end of the story, this emphasis on violence and drink as an escape from indignity will come to have chilling significance, as Farrington resorts to beating his own son, allowing the indignity he experiences at work to seep into his private family life.

Things aren’t much better for Farrington outside of the office, either, as he is repeatedly feels emasculated by people around him—whether or not they’re an authority figure. On one such occasion, after he is ignored by a woman in the pub, Farrington’s heart is “full of smoldering anger and revengefulness. He felt humiliated and discontented and when he thought of the woman in the big hat who had brushed his side and said Pardon! his fury nearly choked him.” To many readers, Farrington’s indignity may seem wholly misplaced, as his entitlement comes across as crude and arrogant. However, given Farrington’s time and place—steeped in sexism and rigid gender roles—this interaction would have read as an inferior (the woman) snubbing a superior (the man). It’s also significant that Farrington is snubbed in a pub, which in early 20th-century Dublin was a distinctively male space. So not only does Farrington experience indignity at the hands of his boss, a clear authority figure, he’s also humiliated by someone whom society dictates is below him, and in a space where he’s supposed to have power and influence.

At times, Farrington’s resentment and anger show him as an embittered and cruel man. However, Joyce also uses Farrington—and the indignity he experiences—to illustrate the shame that Ireland experiences at the hands of Great Britain. Even the characters’ names hint at this: it’s fitting that Farrington is a Saxon-Celtic name native to the British Isles, while Alleyne is derived from French-Norman, since in much of British literature people who are powerful or upper class often have French-Norman names, while lower-class characters tend to have more Saxon-like names. Joyce is here echoing that tradition, highlighting that there is a hidden but steep power imbalance between the native Farrington and foreign Alleyne. The fact that Alleyne speaks with a “North of Ireland” accent is significant, too, because during the British control of Ireland, they allowed mainly Northern Irish people—who were mostly Protestants whose families were originally from Britain—in positions of power. Once again, Joyce is suggesting that in some ways Farrington’s resentment towards his boss is mirrored in the resentment of the Irish more broadly towards Britain.

Joyce’s overarching point about Ireland’s emasculation at the hands of the British is reinforced by the way the two explicitly English characters—Weathers and the lady in the pub—humiliate Farrington. Farrington participates in an arm-wrestling match with the Englishman Weathers to “defend the national honor.” It is as though the match is a symbolic tussle between Great Britain and Ireland, and in losing the match and being so disgraced, Farrington’s shame embodies Ireland’s shame. Likewise, the woman whom Farrington feels has ignored and humiliated him speaks with an emphatically “London” English accent. Given these details, it’s reasonable to view her as a stand-in for the haughty British who disrespect and subjugate the Irish. These subtle references to Great Britain peppered throughout the story thus link Farrington’s specific anger with a broader sense of national disgrace and honor. Though Farrington’s anger and resentment often bleed out in ugly ways—such as when he horrifically beats his son Tom at the end of the story—Joyce paints a more nuanced picture of the man, suggesting that he is weary and beaten down, just like Ireland itself.

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Resentment, Anger, and Indignity Quotes in Counterparts

Below you will find the important quotes in Counterparts related to the theme of Resentment, Anger, and Indignity.
Counterparts Quotes

The bell rang furiously and, when Miss Parker went to the tube, a furious voice called out in a piercing North of Ireland accent. “Send Farrington here!”

Related Characters: Mr. Alleyne (speaker), Farrington
Page Number: 82
Explanation and Analysis:

A spasm of rage gripped his throat for a few moments and then passed, leaving after it a sharp sensation of thirst. The man recognized the sensation and felt he must have a good night’s drinking.

Related Characters: Farrington, Mr. Alleyne
Related Symbols: Alcohol
Page Number: 83
Explanation and Analysis:

His head was not clear and his mind wandered away to the glare and rattle of the public-house. It was a night for hot punches. He struggled on with his copy, but when the clock struck five he had still fourteen pages to write. Blast it! He couldn’t finish it in time. He longed to execrate aloud, to bring his fist down on something violently.

Related Characters: Farrington
Related Symbols: Alcohol
Page Number: 86
Explanation and Analysis:

He felt strong enough to clear out the whole office singlehanded. His body ached to do something, to rush out and revel in violence. All the indignities of his life enraged him […] he knew where he would meet the boys: Leonard and O’Halloran and Nosey Flynn. The barometer of his emotional nature was set for a spell of riot.

Related Characters: Farrington, Mr. Alleyne, Paddy Leonard, O’Halloran, Nosey Flynn
Page Number: 86
Explanation and Analysis:

“You—know—nothing. Of course you know nothing,” said Mr. Alleyne. “Tell me,” he added, glancing first for approval to the lady beside him, “do you take me for a fool? Do you think me an utter fool?” The man glanced from the lady’s face to the little egg-shaped head and back again; and, almost before he was aware of it, his tongue had found a felicitous moment: “I don’t think, sir,” he said, “that that’s a fair question to put to me.”

Related Characters: Farrington (speaker), Mr. Alleyne (speaker), Miss Delacour
Page Number: 87
Explanation and Analysis:

Farrington’s dark wine-coloured face flushed darker still with anger and humiliation at having been defeated by such a stripling.

Related Characters: Farrington, Weathers
Related Symbols: Alcohol
Page Number: 92
Explanation and Analysis:

He was full of smoldering anger and revengefulness. He felt humiliated and discontented; he did not even feel drunk; and he had only twopence in his pocket. He cursed everything. He had done for himself in the office, pawned his watch, spent all his money; and he had not even got drunk.

Related Characters: Farrington, Weathers
Related Symbols: Alcohol
Page Number: 93
Explanation and Analysis: