An Irish Quandary in James Joyce's Dubliners "Eveline" by James Joyce is one of fifteen short stories in his novel, Dubliners. It was written during the British oppression of Ireland and was therefore not published until nine years after its completion. “Eveline” tells the story of a young adult named Eveline, who has trouble choosing between: leaving her family for a new life and staying, to protect her younger siblings and keep the family together. This story describes the inner turmoil felt by anyone who makes a similar decision. The story demonstrates the dilemma, or perplexity, of deciding whether to immigrate to another country, leaving everything you know and love behind, to start a new life. Joyce's life must be understood in order to adequately discuss the above dilemma. James Joyce was born in Dublin on 2 February 1882. He was the eldest of ten children and left his family in 1902 to study medicine in Paris. Joyce, on the other hand, spent all his time writing. Joyce was one of many families, part of the Catholic population, who suffered from economic and social depression. His family lost all their money due to his father's spendthrift behavior. During this time the Irish were also oppressed by the English. Joyce suffered all of this, along with the loss of her mother in 1903. She returned during her mother's final months and during this time met her future wife, Nora Barnacle. They married in 1931 and moved to Paris, France, where they started a family. During World War I, Joyce moved to Zurich, Switzerland, for safety, and after the war he returned to Trieste, France. James Joyce died in Zurich, January 13, 1941. During Joyce's lifetime, Irish immigration to the United States boomed, caused by a multitude of reasons. Two very important reasons were: the potato famine and British oppression. The Potato Famine killed over a million Irish and gave a major boost to the immigration movement. The most important factor, however, was the British act of oppression. The English were in control of Ireland. The English forced the Irish to pay taxes and influenced the Irish with their British Protestantism.