James Joyce: Working Conditions, Cultural Divide, Religion, and Inventions

Working Conditions:

Dublin in the early 20th century was a city full of new ideas and major changes. Irish Nationalism and the Dublin Lockout helped transformed Dublin into the city it is today. The city of Dublin was divided into north side and south side by the bridge of the River Liffey. The north side of town was considered to be the working class, while the south side was considered to be the middle and upper class.The Dublin Lockout was viewed as the most significant industrial dispute in Irish history. Approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers went on strike for the right to unionise. Because of the lockout work was seen as valuable and hard to come by. Some children worked to help enhance the families’ income. We see a reflection of this in James Joyce’s novel Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man. Stephen Dedalus worked as a messenger boy (Joyce 53) and earned thirty and three pounds for an essay prizes which he gave to his mother to buy groceries for the family (Joyce 84-85).

 

Religion:

Changes in institutional religion had begun in the early twentieth century. Particularly the Roman Catholic Church was profoundly involved and influenced the views of people in social, cultural, and political fields. The clergy inclined the children through their schools. Priest played an important role in teaching Catholic social and moral values. The Church was united with the nationalist movement, helping to shape its religious and spiritual philosophy. This is relevant in Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man. Stephen witnesses the churches power at Christmas dinner and the argument between his father and Mr. Casey. Stephen also see it when he was wrongfully punished at school by Father Dolan. (Joyce, ch.1)

 

Inventions:

John Joly

There were a few inventions and discoveries in Ireland during this time. John Joly and Howard Grubb had a small impact on advancing technology. John Joly was an Irish geologist and physicist who studied and taught at Trinity College in Dublin. He estimated how old the earth actually was. In 1914, he developed a method for extracting radium and its use in cancer treatment. This method is still used today. Joly also invented the photmeter for measuring light intensity.

 

Howard Grubb

Howard Grubb also attended Trinity College where he trained to be a civil engineer. Grubb would soon drop out and join his father in producing an astronomical telescope. They also manufactured periscopes, range finders and gun sights. In 1900 Grubb invented the reflector or “reflex” sight; a non-magnifying optical sight. This type of sight has come to be used on all kinds of weapons from small firearms to fighter aircraft. During World War I Grubb was contracted in providing and perfecting a periscope design for Royal Navy submarines.

 

 

Sources:

Joyce, James. “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.” New York: W.W. Norton & Company,

2007. Print.

“Poverty and Health.” Exhibition – The National Archives of Ireland, n.d. Web. 19 June 2013.

<http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/exhibition/dublin/poverty_health.html

“Ireland: Religion & Culture, 1870-1914.” Multitext. N.p., n.d. Web.

http://multitext.ucc.ie/d/Ireland_religion__culture_1870-1914

“Howard Grubb.” Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Grubb&gt;.

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