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In "A Painful Case," by James Joyce, the central character is cold, intellectual, and emotionless. The narrator of this story adopts a pessimistic and scathingly negative view of the central character, Mr. Duffy.
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Duffy: The Real 'Painful Case' In "A Painful Case," by James Joyce, the central character is cold, intellectual, and emotionless. The narrator of this story adopts a pessimistic and scathingly negative view of the central character, Mr. Duffy. Duffy is, figuratively speaking, dead. He is dead to the world of passionate emotions that make others 'alive,' and he shuns most contact with other humans, especially emotional and intimate contact. He argues that 'every bond is a bond of sorrow,' and uses this as justification for not engaging in any relationships of an intimate nature. He has 'neither companions nor friends, church nor creed.' Duffy's room is very telling of his personality as well. "The lofty walls of his uncarpeted room were free from pictures" (Joyce, 118). It is customary to put up pictures in one's home of one's family or friends, but Duffy does not associate with either. He has...
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