1)
标
题
含
义
：
What’s the meaning of the title? Are “the sisters” the main characters in this story, or do
you think that Joyce is somehow misleading us?
Religious connotation of the title, it’s an indirect introduction to Catholicism even though the two women
are not nuns but simply sisters of Father Flynn. The two women took care of the old priest.
We get to know the Father through secondary characters such as the sisters (who speak of their brothers
in good terms) and Old Cutter (who has a negative opinion of the priest, and says that he was too close to
the boy).
2) Point of view
：
This is first story in Dubliners , and it is the only instance in which first-person narration
(the boy is telling the story from his point of view) is dominant. There are some passages of first-person
narration in the two stories that come after “The Sisters” but, overall, the third-person narration is
dominant throughout the book.
第
⼀
⼈
称
原
因
：
He wanted to reflect the boy’s point of view. Then he
changed his technique, probably because he felt confident enough as to use the third-person narration
while at the same reflecting the characters’ thoughts and motivations.
3)
情
节
分
析
内
容
It’s a simple plot. There’s a dead priest and a boy and a group of adults talk about him. The boy is
trying to come to terms with the dead of this priest who was close to him.
对
⽐
wo worlds: childhood vs. adulthood. The boy pronounces words that he can’t really understand (see
beginning of the story).
问
题
There are certain aspects that are never resolved. Did the priest commit some kind of sexual abuse
on the boy?
4)
重
点
2 Paralysis
的
literary meaning&metaphorical meaning:
Literal: Father Flynn was ill. Physically and, later, mentally disabled.
Metaphorically: “paralysis” as the state of Dublin and Ireland in general.
5)
不
能
获
取
的
信
息
为
什
么
？
How exactly Father Flynn died. We know he suffered a crisis after he dropped the chalice. They say it
was “the boy’s fault.” After that he was found laughing in the confessionary.
The “sexual abuse” accusation.
6)
⼈
物
Father Flynn
（
同
性
恋
）
The adults said they didn’t like that the boy was close to him. They use the term “queer” twice. Did
something wrong occur?
7)
天
主
教
symbol
什
么
？
There are many symbols and elements from Catholic rituals. Joyce does not openly mock them but by
presenting them through the boys’ eyes we can feel that he’s somehow distorting their meaning. It’s a
blend of the realistic and the symbolic/religious.
8)
分
析
故
事
结
尾
Analysis:
In “The Sisters,” and in the rest of the stories in Dubliners , strange and puzzling events occur that remain unexplained.
1.
形
象
：
Father Flynn suffers from paralyzing strokes and eventually dies, but his deterioration, epitomized by his
laughing frenzy in a confessional box, also hints that he was mentally unstable.
精
神
不
稳
定
The reader never
learns exactly what was wrong with him.
2.
不
健
康
关
系
Similarly, Father Flynn and the young narrator had a relationship that Old Cotter thinks was
unhealthy , but that the narrator paints as spiritual when he recounts the discussions he and Father Flynn had about
Church rituals. However, the narrator also has strange dreams about Father Flynn and admits to feeling
uncomfortable around him. Joyce presents just enough information so that the reader suspects Father Flynn is a
malevolent figure
邪
恶
的
⼈
物
, but never enough so that the reader knows the full story. Such a technique is hinted
at in the first paragraph of the story.
3.
证
据
但
不
充
分
The narrator thinks of the word paralysis when looking at Father Flynn’s window and says the
word sounds strange, like the word gnomon , a term that generally refers to instruments, like the hand on a sundial,
that indicate something. Joyce does exactly that: He points to details and suggestions, but never completes the
puzzle.
4. The physical presence of Father Flynn lingers throughout the story, coloring the narrator’s experience of dealing
with death in life and showing how a death interrupts normal human activities. F ather Flynn plays a fleshly role in
the story. His approaching death makes the narrator think of the corpse, which he eventually sees.
5.
关
系
不
正
常
和
⾯
对
困
难
的
⽆
⼒
感
：
叙
述
者
和
他
的
姨
妈
在
拜
访
修
⼥
时
⽆
法
进
⻝
和
说
话
，
这
让
⼈
想
起
故
事
开
头
那
段
叙
述
者
与
垂
死
的
弗
林
神
⽗
之
间
的
瘫
痪
感
。
The inability of the narrator and his aunt to eat and speak during
their visit to the sisters recalls the sense of paralysis that the narrator connects to the dying Father Flynn in the
story’s opening paragraph. This link between paralysis or inaction to both death and religion underpins all the
stories in Dubliners . Characters face events that paralyze them from taking action or fulfilling their desires, as
though they experience a kind of death in life.
⼈
物
⾯
临
的
事
件
使
他
们
⽆
法
采
取
⾏
动
或
实
现
他
们
的
愿
望
，
仿
佛
他
们
在
⽣
活
中
经
历
了
⼀
种
死
亡
。
6. In “The Sisters,” such paralysis is connected to religion through Father Flynn. Father Flynn’s dropping of the
chalice and his inability to grasp the same object in his coffin suggest that the rituals of religion lead to paralysis.
7. This story opens with an image of a Dubliner gazing through a window and reflecting on a dilemma. Such a
symbol appears throughout the collection, and here it is particularly important because it draws attention to the
narrative point of view. “The Sisters” is the first of three stories in the collection told in first-person point of view.
As in the other two stories, “An Encounter” and “Araby,” the narrator never divulges his name and rarely
participates in the conversations. The opening image of the window in the first paragraph reinforces this sense of
quiet, detached observation, which the narrators of the later stories adopt. Through this narrative technique Joyce
suggests that even first-hand experience is in some ways voyeuristic
偷
窥
, and that it’s possible for a person to
observe his or her own life from the outside.
即
使
是
第
⼀
⼿
的
经
验
在
某
些
⽅
⾯
也
是
偷
窥
的
，
⼀
个
⼈
有
可
能
从
外
部
观
察
⾃
⼰
的
⽣
活
。