The Illusions of Success Theme Analysis

In many of the stories in Dubliners, Joyce portrays Dublin, Ireland as excessively conventional, morally strict, and provincial. After growing dissatisfied with his birthplace, Joyce himself left Dublin early in his life and spent the majority of his years as an expatriate in continental Europe. Like Joyce, Gallaher is an émigré and thus represents an image of success and sophistication for Little Chandler, who is stuck in Dublin. However, their meeting deflates Chandler’s idealistic view of his old friend as Gallaher appears crass, vulgar, and even morally corrupted. While Chandler assumes that moving to a more cosmopolitan place will turn a person into a more refined version of themselves, Gallaher’s characterization proves that this is not always the case. Gallaher’s emigration did not improve him—his seedy lifestyle abroad has actually exacerbated his preexisting character flaws. Through Gallaher’s portrayal, the story shows that emigration holds out a false promise of career success, escape from provincial morality, and personal sophistication—dismantling the age-old adage that “the grass is greener on the other side.” Through Gallaher, Joyce shows that while Ireland may have its problems and limitations, leaving it is not necessarily a cure-all, either.

Gallaher immigrated to London to pursue a career in journalism, and he has achieved fame. However, he seems dissatisfied with his profession, as does Chandler by the end of their meeting. Upon meeting Chandler, Gallaher playfully mocks his own aged appearance, blaming it on the stresses of his career: “It pulls you down […] Press life. Always hurry and scurry.” He grouses about journalism’s fast pace, which requires “looking for copy and sometimes not finding it: and then, always to have something new in your stuff.” He is happy to have some time off, exclaiming, “Damn proofs and printers, I say, for a few days.” Gallaher makes his career (which Chandler has imagined as glamorous and important) seem instead tiresome, petty, and frustrating. By the end of their meeting, Little Chandler feels deeply resentful over Gallaher’s success. He denigrates Gallaher’s profession as “tawdry journalism,” reflecting that “he could do something better than his friend had ever done”—if only he had the chance to leave Dublin. 

In addition to being disappointed with Gallaher’s career, Chandler is let down by Gallaher’s poor manners. With his heavy drinking and vulgar, coarse way of speaking, Gallaher does not fit Chandler’s image of the sophisticated, successful expatriate. Gallaher drinks heavily throughout the meeting with Chandler and he pressures Chandler to do the same, several times saying things like, “I say Tommy, don’t make punch of that whisky: liquor up.” Moreover, Gallaher’s manners and speech disappoint Chandler. For example, when discussing Paris, Gallaher says “I’ve been to the Moulin Rouge […] and I’ve been to all the bohemian cafes. Hot stuff! Not for a pious chap like you, Tommy.” Chandler is left feeling “somewhat disillusioned” by Gallaher’s coarse manner. He reflects that “There was something vulgar in his friend which he had not observed before.” With this, Chandler begins to realize that simply leaving Dublin doesn’t make someone glamorous or cultured.

Far from being a sophisticated expatriate, Gallaher instead comes off as pleasure-seeking, morally seedy, and callous.  Through this portrayal, the story shows that living abroad actually can have a corrupting influence. Chandler asks Gallaher hopefully about Paris: “is it really as beautiful as they say?”  Gallaher seems confused by the question, as if he had never considered it, and he contradicts himself: “Beautiful? […] It’s not so beautiful, you know. Of course, it is beautiful.” He then shifts to talk about the Paris’s nightlife and its “gaiety, movement, excitement.” He seems uninterested in the art and culture of Paris and only interested in the opportunities it offers for sensual pleasure-seeking. Indeed, gaining knowledge of vice and immorality has been a main feature of Gallaher’s experience of travel in continental Europe. He describes to Chandler “some pictures of the corruption which was rife abroad.” He does not describe the art and culture of Europe but instead focuses on sordid gossip: “He revealed many of the secrets of religious houses on the Continent and described some of the practices which were fashionable in high society and ended by telling, with details, a story about an English duchess.” Chandler playfully teases Gallaher about marrying someday, but Gallaher dismisses the possibility crudely: “No blooming fear of that, my boy.” He takes a calculating, unromantic view of marriage. Dismissing love as “mooning and spooning about,” he insists that his future wife will “have a good fat account at the bank.” Gallaher’s vulgar, callous attitude shows through as he brags about the “thousands of rich Germans and Jews” he would have to choose from should he set his sights on marriage. Gallaher’s already-questionable morality has been corrupted by living abroad, corroding his views on life and love. Prior to leaving Dublin, Gallaher was somewhat seedy. Chandler recalls Gallaher then, remembering that “People used to say that Ignatius Gallaher was wild.” He socialized with “a rakish set of fellows […] drank freely and borrowed money on all sides.” It was rumored that he had to leave Dublin because of “some shady affair, some money transaction.” While he has achieved career success, it has merely given him the financial freedom to express his morally questionable tendencies more fully than he could in Dublin.

Joyce himself was an expatriate, and in his portrayal of Gallaher, he seems to be speaking from experience. While he does portray Dublin as stagnant, conventional, and limited in its opportunities for success, he also shows that Chandler’s idealized view of living abroad—“if you wanted to succeed you had to go away”—is, in fact, a naïve oversimplification. Gallaher has achieved some career success, but he has also been coarsened and corrupted by the seedy underbelly of life on the continent. Chandler (and the reader through him) face the hard truth that while one’s current location might have a host of problems, leaving it won’t necessarily lead to personal improvement.