Joyce’s writing style in “Ivy Day in the Committee Room” features both descriptive language (primarily about the appearances of various characters) as well as heavy dialogue between the characters. In trying to capture the everyday struggles and group dynamics of the Nationalist Party, Joyce has his third-person narrator introduce readers to different characters and then lets the characters speak for themselves (with the narrator essentially disappearing for pages at a time).
The rich descriptions of the characters are notable as they function on two different levels—Joyce is simultaneously bringing readers into the scene of the story and also offering social commentary on the problems within Ireland’s Nationalist Party in the early 20th century. Joyce’s introduction to O’Connor at the beginning of the story demonstrates this intention:
Mr O’Connor, a grey-haired young man, whose face was disfigured by many blotches and pimples, had just brought the tobacco for a cigarette into a shapely cylinder but when spoken to he undid his handiwork meditatively. Then he began to roll the tobacco again meditatively and after a moment’s thought decided to lick the paper.
Here Joyce’s description of O’Connor helps readers to become immersed in the story—they can picture his grey hair and pimply face, as well as the way that he rolls and unrolls his cigarette. At the same time, Joyce is also hoping that this language signals to readers that O’Connor represents the inertia of the Nationalist Party. For example, the fact that he is “a grey-haired young man” signals that the youth in the movement are aging prematurely and don’t have the same vitality of generations past. That O’Connor cares more about rolling a cigarette than canvassing also shows the youth’s lack of vigor. He even rolls his cigarette in a slow and lethargic way, signaling that the youth are not just disillusioned with the nationalist movement, but are generally exhausted by the mundane struggles of modern life.
