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Sexual Repression
Many modernist writers explored the nature of sexuality in their fiction and James Joyce is no exception. Some of the short stories in Dubliners, like “Araby,” depict young characters who are coming to terms with their sexuality for the first time. “A Painful Case,” on the other hand, centers around a much older protagonist who holds his sexuality at arm’s length instead of exploring or embracing it. Mr. Duffy is pleased with the intellectual, platonic relationship that he has with Mrs. Sinico, but he cuts contact with her after she reaches out one night and touches his cheek. Mr. Duffy’s moment of sexual panic reveals that he is unequipped to confront any latent sexual desires and, instead, represses these instincts and retreats into the safety that accompanies isolation. Joyce wants his readers to understand that Mr. Duffy’s fear of intimacy stems from a disconnect with his own sexuality. Mr. Duffy, Joyce explains, lives “at a little distance from his body.” It is important to note that Joyce does not celebrate Mr. Duffy for his strict adherence to moral conventions. Instead, he heavily implies that an affair between Mr. Duffy and Mrs. Sinico could have greatly improved both of their lonely lives. Through Mr. Duffy’s solemn conclusion, Joyce comments on the restricting nature of sexual repression.
Death in Life
Throughout Dubliners, the dead cast a shadow on the present, drawing attention to the mistakes and failures that people make generation after generation. Such overlap underscores Joyce’s interest in life cycles and their repetition, and also his concern about those “living dead” figures who move through life with little excitement or emotion except in reaction to everyday snags and delays. Mr. Duffy is one of these figures. It may be Mrs. Sinico and not Mr. Duffy who meets an untimely end in “A Painful Case,” but Joyce expects his readers to understand that Mr. Duffy is essentially a dead man walking. He may be physically alive but his existence is void of anything that gives life meaning. Through characters like Mr. Duffy, Joyce argues that the monotony of Dublin life leads Dubliners to live in a suspended state between life and death, in which each person has a pulse but is incapable of profound, life-sustaining action.
Isolation vs. Human Connection
Human beings are not solitary creatures by nature. While moments of solitude are important, we are not meant to spend our lives on our own. When a person self-isolates too much, they can feel disconnected from the world around them. This is the case for Mr. Duffy. Joyce writes that Mr. Duffy “had neither companions nor friends, church nor creed.” It is no wonder, then, that Mr. Duffy is so miserable. Everything changes when Mr. Duffy meets Mrs. Sinico. Mrs. Sinico is nothing like Mr. Duffy on paper. She is striking where he is homely, gentle where he is harsh, affectionate where he is aloof, and bold where he is timid. However, despite their differences, their chance meeting develops into a deep bond between two kindred spirits, built on a mutual love of music, politics, culture, and sharing ideas. The isolated, moody language that Joyce uses to describe Mr. Duffy’s isolated, lonely state melts away the moment he forms a genuine connection with Mrs. Sinico and he finds himself “warm[ed]” by her presence in his life. Tragically for Mr. Duffy, he cuts contact with Mrs. Sinico when she pushes him too far out of his comfort zone and he dooms himself to a life of loneliness and regret.
