Clay by James Joyce

Clay by James Joyce

Clay by James Joyce

 Summary

The story is about a middle aged woman called Maria, who works in the kitchen of a laundry established for the reform of prostitutes. She was a small person in physical structure having long nose and long chin.

She was very polite in terms of talking and she always settled the conflict in her laundry. So she was liked by all. The matron of the laundry gave her permission to go out after the women had their tea. When the tea was ready, she rang the big bell and the women came in. Kizzy Flemming wished Maria would get a wedding ring in the Halloween game. Ginger Money prayed for her good health. Maria laughed on their wishing and also felt sad.

She got dressed and went out. She thought that she would be able to visit Joe, one of her brothers, before seven o’clock. She had nursed two brothers: Joe and Alphy. But Joe and Alphy hated each other which hurt Maria. Maria thought that she would buy things on the way and if Joe was not drunk, she would enjoy the Halloween party with him.

When she came out, it was raining outside. She got on the tram and started thinking about two brothers who quarreled all the time. She felt sad for not being able to be with two brothers at a time. She got out of the tram to buy cakes. While in Henry Street, she took time to choose the plum cake, and one of the salesgirls asked her if she was looking for the wedding cake. On hearing that, she felt ashamed and chose one cake. On the way to Joe’s house, on the tram, she was asked about her children. Here, she felt shy. Though the young boys ignored her, one elderly man responded her politely in the tram.

She reached Joe’s home and all felt glad to see her. She gave them cakes but could not find the plum cake she bought for her parents. She had forgotten it in the tram. She was sad and said that she had wasted so much money on nothing. Joe consoled her and made her happy. They had music, dance, beer and wine. They talked about their childhood and when Maria mentioned Alphy, Joe was angry. Joe’s wife, Mrs. Donnelly, angrily said that it was a matter of shame to talk about in that manner of his own brother.

They had a game. The participant had to be blindfolded and had to choose things from the table. The chosen thing would predict his/her future in the upcoming year. Maria was blindfolded and was led to the table. She chose a thing which was wet and watery (actually ‘clay’ a symbol of death) and she heard some unusual whispering. Thinking that she close something wrong, she moved her hand and got a prayer book which means that she would enter the convent in the service of God. She was forced to sing a song so she sang a lovely song but omitted some lines. Joe was touched with her song and his eyes were watery.

Theme

Clay by James Joyce is very highly symbolic story. It shows us a middle-aged woman named Maria and her usual life. Maria is an unmarried woman who lives her life very simply. As her life is a very simple one and as she is unmarried, we can assume that she is not happy with her life.

The title 'Clay' therefore may be indicating her petty and unimportant existence, which is as useless as clay. Most of the beginning paragraphs, are related to her day-to-day activities. The writer seems to suggest us that Maria's life has become a very unimportant thing like the insignificant daily choices which she does every day.

The story has so many symbols in it. Firstly the title itself is a very symbolic one. Maria's day-to-day life is full of dullness, which stands as a symbol of her uninteresting life. She doesn't find charm in her daily activities. There is a lacking in her heart. The narrator does not describe why it is there, but we can assume that given the situation, her prosaic (Banal, mundane, dull, ordinary, and commonplace) life is a result of her own loneliness. Her shyness, when Kizzy told that Maria was sure to get the ring, is another expression of the fact that she still feels romantic about the question of marriage. In fact, when she meets the gentleman in the trump, her romantic feeling is so great that she forgets the valuable plum cake, which she bought for even more valuable Joe. These events are enough to prove, that the writer is highly symbolic in his approach.

Moreover, the games played at Joe's home are even more symbolic. Maria's getting the Clay signifies her going towards that way of decay or decomposition. If we examine it closely, we find that it has the undertone of Maria's going towards death. The writer means indirectly that her worldly days are about the end. And he has almost the same tone, which she gets the prayer book, which symbolizes how she should go towards the spiritual side. It's better if she is a nun now. The story, in all ways is a remarkable combination of various symbols, which unify the various events together to produce a meaning of clay or decomposition.

Critical Interpretation

Maria, a female protagonist, in Clay represents a quiet life of a single maid who is famous for her "peace making role" in the laundry. It is a great irony that though she is a great peacemaker in laundry, she has been unable to maintain peace and order in her family. She fails to settle the conflict of her two brothers which always saddens her.

Nothing much happens in the story or in the life of Maria. Minute details of each and every single actions play an important role in her life. She wants everything properly settled and well managed. She does the kitchen work very precisely and hopes for same precision in all chores. Great incidents are not necessary to make her happy or sad. Just with the loss of cake, she becomes so furious and with the warm welcome of Joe and his family, she becomes quite happy. By keeping her busy in small and trivial issues of day to day life, she is trying to forget the bitter reality of her life. She is single, unmarried maid. Her long nose and chin meet when she laughs. She is not beautiful. In spite of her manageable beauty, no young boys in the tram notice her. She hides her frustration, anger and agony and keeps her mind and herself busy in minute works in life. She even divides each minute of the day where she would go, what she would do and how much time she would spend.

The title Clay symbolizes early death. Metaphorically the clay implies the early death of detail oriented life and event-less life of Maria. The clay in the Halloween game also suggests the monotonous and frustrating life of Maria up to that moment and the selection of prayer book indicates her second life in the convent. A life full of devotion in the name of god.

The story ‘Clay’ is written in very simple language. While going through the story, the readers feel as if simple Maria’s simple language is being used. The frequent use of ‘nice’ and ‘right’ words show the gentleness and positive aspect of Maria.

Through the depiction of Maria as tidy, pious, proper, nice and dull James Joyce shows the psychologically repressed personality. The words are repetitive and vocabularies are simple, but the psychology of Maria is disturbed and mysterious.

Socially and religiously bound Maria can never show her loveless life and suffers whole life; First half of the life in the name of society and second half of life will be in the name of religion.

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