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James Joyce’s “A Painful Case” is a contemplation of love, loss, and missed opportunities. It follows the story of an unassuming bank cashier named Mr. Duffy whose predictable existence is forever altered by a chance meeting with a woman named Mrs. Sinico, who he meets at a concert hall. As Mr. Duffy and Mrs. Sinico’s relationship unfolds, Joyce explores the debilitating impact of loneliness, the joy in finding a kindred spirit in the midst of so much uncertainty, and the small moments that have the power to change a person’s life—both for the better and for the worse.
“A Painful Case” opens with a lengthy exposition section where Joyce provides an overview of Mr. Duffy’s dull, repetitive life. Mr. Duffy is a predictable, unadventurous bank cashier who lives an existence of prudence and organization. He keeps a tidy, impersonal house, eats at the same restaurants, and makes the same daily commute. He has no relationships and no change in routine. This opening section is a crucial feat of characterization because, in a few short paragraphs, Joyce solidifies Mr. Duffy’s monotonous existence.
The story’s rising action can be divided into two separate but related sections. The sections are separate because they have two drastically different tones but they are related because they both involve the developing relationship between the text’s two central characters: Mr. Duffy and Mrs. Sinico. In the inciting incident of “A Painful Case,” Mr. Duffy strikes up a conversation with the captivating woman who is seated next to him at the concert hall. After two subsequent chance encounters, Mr. Duffy and Mrs. Sinico decide to meet regularly at her cottage. The acquaintanceship soon develops into an intimate bond as they share their opinions and ideas until Mr. Duffy feels as if their thoughts have been “entangled.” Mr. Duffy and Mrs. Sinico are two profoundly lonely people and this section of the story is filled with the warmth and adventure that the two of them had been unable to find in life up until their chance meeting.
Tragically, their relationship is not sustainable and the second half of the rising action portion of the text is dedicated to the disintegration of Mr. Duffy and Mrs. Sinico’s relationship. Mrs. Sinico awakens welcome new emotions in Mr. Duffy, but when she makes an intimate gesture one evening he reacts with surprise and rigidity. Though all along he spoke of the impossibility of sharing one’s self and the inevitability of loneliness, Mrs. Sinico’s gesture suggests that another truth exists and this truth frightens Mr. Duffy. Accepting Mrs. Sinico’s offered truth, which opens the possibility for love and deep feeling, would mean changing his life entirely, which Mr. Duffy cannot do. In a panic, Mr. Duffy terminates their relationship and resumes his solitary life with some relief.
Four years pass and Mr. Duffy’s life returns to normal until, in the story’s climax, he learns that Mrs. Sinico died after being hit by a train. Perhaps suspecting suicide or weakness in character, Mr. Duffy initially feels disgusted by her death and by his connection to her life. However, during the falling action, Mr. Duffy slowly comes to terms with both Mrs. Sinico’s death and his feelings towards her. Mr. Duffy’s anger melts into guilt as he walks through the park late at night and reminisces about Mrs. Sinico. He blames himself for Mrs. Sinico’s death because he feels that he condemned her to a life of loneliness and misery after ending their companionship.
“A Painful Case” concludes where it began, with Mr. Duffy alone. Mr. Duffy has an epiphany as he walks home and he realizes that his preoccupation with order and rectitude shut Mrs. Sinico out of his life, which excluded him from living fully. Like other characters in Dubliners who experience epiphanies, Mr. Duffy is not inspired to begin a new phase in his life, but, instead bitterly accepts his loneliness. In life, Mrs. Sinico invigorated Mr. Duffy’s routine and, through her intimacy, came close to warming his cold heart. Only in death, however, does she succeed in revealing his cycle of solitude to him. The tragedy of this story is threefold. First, Mr. Duffy must face a dramatic death before he can rethink his lifestyle and outlook. Second, acknowledging the problems in his lifestyle makes him realize his culpability: Mrs. Sinico died of a broken heart that he caused. Third, and perhaps most tragic, Mr. Duffy will not change the life he has created for himself. He is paralyzed, despite his revelations and his guilt.
