The Boarding House

The Boarding House by James Joyce is told in the third person, but the is told in the perspective first of the mother Mrs. Mooney, then of Mr. Doran, and of her daughter Polly. Mrs. Mooney opens up a boarding house after separating from her husband. Mr. Doran was one of the men that stayed at the boarding house and ends up sleeping with Mrs. Mooney's daughter Polly. Mrs. Mooney then wants Mr. Doran to marry her daughter. "For her only one reparation could make up for the loss if her daughter's honour: marriage." Here the reader can see what Mrs. Mooney wants, but not what Polly or Mr. Doran want. Then the story changes perspectives and the reader can see how Mr. Doran is feeling. He does not want to marry Polly, but thinks of all the times they spent together and feels maybe they could have a good marriage. At the end of the story, Polly is laying on her bed crying, waiting for her mother to discuss marrying her daughter with Mr. Doran. As she is daydreaming, she is hit with reality when her mother calls her down and tells her that Mr. Doran has agreed to marry her. Here the reader can see that this may not be what Polly actually wants. The last line states"Then she remebered what she had been waiting for." This does not sound like a woman who is happy to get married. Polly agrees, as she really has no other choice and is trapped in Dublin like the other characters in The Dubliners.