Abstract
The passage studied here is an excerpt from "Clay", one of the short stories of the book Dubliners, which was written by James Joyce in 1914. In this story, the main character Maria is invited to spend the Hallow Eve evening at Joe's, a man of whom she once was the nurse but who is now grown-up and has a family. This excerpt deals with the moment when Maria, while playing traditional Hallow Eve games with Joe's children, chooses by chance a piece of clay, which is a symbol of death. And whereas everyone around is dismayed, she does not seem to realize what this prediction means for her. As Maria has the most important place in this short story, it is necessary to first consider the duality of her character, because she seems to appear alternately as a saint and as a witch. Then there will be an analysis of the prediction itself, that is to say the significance of the clay but also the whole negativity which is present all along the narrative and which seems to have introduced the symbol of the clay.
