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Joyce uses the word 'Grace' three times in the story "Grace" and each usage seems to me to help in defining what kind of critique JJ is intending in the story. We expect this story thus titled to be about spiritual grace-------- especially in that the plot of the tale deals with moving Mr Kernan from a state of drunken stupor to a Spiritual Retreat. And in fact JJ told his brother Stan that it was in some ways a "parody" of the Divine Comedy. We meet Tom Kernan in the lowest pit of hell in the opening -- fallen man (literally). Later he is attended by his friends in the purgatory of the sickbed------ painfully getting better but being restored to wholeness. And finally we have the paradiso of the Retreat. Joyce is having a lot of fun with the ironic contrasts here----- not unlike what he will do with the Odyssey in Ulysses. But each of these stages to recovery stand in ironic contrast to the stages of Dante's work. Kernan, like those in hell, has no identity when found in the bar; he is engulfed by 'rings and 'circles' of people perhaps reminding the reader of the circles of hell in Dante. So we are fully expecting this story to be about a SPIRITUAL recovery. However, neither of the first 2 uses of the word 'Grace' involves any sense of the spiritual. Grace for the business world of Dublin is a mark of SOCIAL status----- not salvation. Kiri showed us the convivial tone of the story <<the close friendly atmosphere created by a group of men choosing to guide one of their peers out of a bad situation.>> Kiri's point is well taken -- and if the story were only about friends helping a down and out buddy, that level would suffice. But Joyce overlays this story with the profundity of Divine Things and thus the world of these men is diminished into the trivial by their exclusively secular ideas about Success, Salvation and Grace. The first appearance of the term defines Mr Kernan as one to whom social felicity is his Goal in life: <<Mr Kernan was a commercial traveller of the old school which believed in the dignity of its calling. He had never been seen in the city without a silk hat of some decency and a pair of gaiters. By grace of these two articles of clothing, he said, a man could always pass muster.>> His GRACE is defined by his clothes -- and they make him feel successful in the world. There is nothing about the spiritual here at all---- grace is the means by which a commercial traveler makes his way up the social ladder. The second appearance pops up in a surprising context. A spear carrier, an apparent nonentity in the story, Mr Fogarty the grocer, is defined in terms of a similar kind of grace. But Fogarty seems to develop in importance in the story so we should look to him a bit more. He somehow becomes a part of the group at the Retreat later--making their planned "foursome" into a "quincunx." I think the description of Fogarty here should be looked at very closely. <<Mr Fogarty was a modest grocer. He had failed in business in a licensed house in the city because his financial condition had constrained him to tie himself to second-class distillers and brewers. He had opened a small shop on Glasnevin Road where, he flattered himself, his manners would ingratiate him with the housewives of the district. He bore himself with a certain grace, complimented little children and spoke with a neat enunciation. He was not without culture.>> The wording of this description on the surface invites approval. He is a "modest grocer"---- sounds like a moral self-effacement is involved. But soon we see that his 'modesty' is in his grocery business----- apparently because he has failed in a larger city pub and is now stuck in an out of the way little area trying to rebuild his business. The wording here can be deceptive. This sounds just the way Mr Fogarty, himself, would describe his own situation.( And if anyone doubts that JJ uses the languages and perspectives of a character frequently----- look at the first paragraph of "A Little Cloud." Could not Mr Mooney (mentioned in "The Boarding House") describe his fall from the meat business in similar terms? We know Mrs Mooney's very different view of it -- but here we have only Fogarty's self-serving explanation of his business lapses. I see Fogarty as a slippery character and one who provides something of a guide for JJ's satire in "Grace." In this passage he sounds like a nice man------ but his concern for little children seems to me upon each subsequent reading to be more of a concern to get their mothers coming to his shop << ingratiating} him[self] with the housewives of the district.>> One might go even further later when Mr Fogarty, out of the generosity of his heart, brings a bottle up to celebrate the recovery from Drunkenness of Tom Kernan. This reminds me of the socialites who had a Champagne party to celebrate one of their own's graduation from the Betty Ford alcohol and drug clinic. Is Fogarty being merely a friend or is he also luring Tom Kernan back in the alcoholic fold? A little later we hear that Kernan is pleased not so much by Fogarty's gift but more by the fact that Fogarty is not bringing up << a small account for groceries unsettled between himself and Mr Fogarty.>> In short, Fogarty has given Kernan a "GRACE PERIOD" to pay the bill---------- not unlike Visa and MasterCharge. Here the word grace and gracious actions are subordinated to financial dealings. When we get to the Retreat we see a representative sample of the corrupt world of Dublin gathered. Most of the people in the next quote have appeared earlier in Dubliners: <<In a whisper, Mr Cunningham drew Mr Kernan's attention to Mr Harford, the moneylender, who sat some distance off, and to Mr Fanning, the registration agent and mayor-maker of the city, who was sitting immediately under the pulpit beside one of the newly elected councillors of the ward. To the right sat old Michael Grimes, the owner of three pawnbroker's shops, and Dan Hogan's nephew, who was up for the job in the Town Clerk's office. Farther in front sat Mr Hendrick, the chief reporter of The Freeman's Journal, and poor O'Carroll, an old friend of Mr Kernan's, who had been at one time a considerable commercial figure. Gradually, as he recognized familiar faces, Mr Kernan began to feel more at home.>> Harford the moneylender was the man who got Tom Kernan in the situation we found him at the start of the story. Joyce shows him not only a hypocrite but here as a moneylender--- a man whose sole concern is financial. Next appears Mr. Fanning, the financial power behind Candidate Tricky Dick Tierney (in "Ivy Day") the money man who is here dubbed << mayor-maker of the city.>> << Oold Michael Grimes, the owner of three pawnbroker's shops,>> in this context sounds like the Grimes that the canvassers had tried to win over in "Ivy Day"-- and now the reason for their concern becomes apparent----- he has Money. We met Mr Hendrick in "A Mother" as he slipped away from his responsibilities as reporter but not before having a little exploitative fun with Miss Healy (and she with him). I think JJ is here alluding to Christ and the MONEY CHANGERS in the TEMPLE. but does Fr Purdon chase these out? Hardly! In Dublin they sit in the front rows with the political boss Fanning right under the pulpit. The final use of Grace in the story seems to be the only one that expresses the spiritual level that one expects. Fr Purdon addresses the businessmen saying (as their Spiritual Accountant): <<If their accounts tallied in every point to say: Well, I have verified my accounts. I find all well.' But if, as might happen, there were some discrepancies, to admit the truth, to be frank and say like a man: `Well, I have looked into my accounts. I find this wrong and this wrong. But, with God's grace, I will rectify this and this. I will set right my accounts.' >> I think the word 'Grace' (along with the entire World of Spirituality) has been so prostituted by this time that Purdon is not really giving them a chance at reform and hope that they can earn the grace of salvation. Rather, he is expressing just what Fogarty did in not mentioning the little "account"------ grace is a no more than a"grace period" here; The world of the Spiritual is just a matter of negotiations---------- SIMONY is the religion of Dubiners. And JJ is having a lot of fun depicting it. JAY |
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