The Boarding House Essays - The Boarding House, Mooney, Can

The Boarding House Brandon D. Hart Mr. Stannard Philosophy 2 July 18, 2000 Mrs. Mooney's Deceitful Act The Boarding House, written by James Joyce, takes place in a small neighborhood located in Dublin, Ireland during the early 1900's. There were three main characters involved in this story-Mrs. Mooney known as The Madam, who was in charge of the boarding house, Polly who is the daughter of Mrs. Mooney, and Mr. Doran who was a resident of the house. James Joyce's, The Boarding House has a strange twist. It just so happens, Mrs. Mooney who is very strict and protective of her daughter allows a secret relationship to form between Mr. Doran and Polly. Pretending as though she has no idea of the matter, the inconceivable act of fornication occurs between the two-thus, scarring her daughter's honor for life. For a man would prefer to marry a woman who has not already been taken by another man. In all likelihood, Mr. Doran was wrong to take advantage of a young naive woman at the precious age of nineteen. Mrs. Mooney was aware Mr. Doran had been employed for thirteen years in a great Catholic wine-merchant's office and publicity would mean for him, perhaps, the loss of his job (James Joyce 40). Upon revealing her knowledge to the couple, she shamelessly informed Mr. Doran she wanted reparation. However, only one type of reparation would satisfy Mrs. Mooney, and that was marriage. In addition to Mr. Doran, many other men had stayed there at the boarding house and made advances towards Polly which Mrs. Mooney did not approve of, and often she pondered the idea of sending her daughter Polly away to work in typewriting again. However, Mrs. Mooney felt the men were just passing by and were not actually seriously interested in her daughter, therefore paying no attention. However, for some strange reason Mr. Doran was of a different nature. She allowed the relationship to go on without intervention, possibly because she knew he made good money, along with having a secure job, working for a great Catholic wine-merchant. Furthermore, allowing the affair to escalate between Mr. Doran and her daughter would ultimately result in the act of intercourse. Having done this outside of wedlock caused women to be frowned on by society tremendously. Mrs. Mooney blatantly regarded Mr. Doran as a mere means and not as an end in his own right. Before speaking to Mr. Doran about the incident, Mrs. Mooney stood and surveyed herself in the pier-glass, with a decisive expression on her great florid face satisfied her and she thought of some mothers she knew who could not get their daughters off their hands. She was sure she would win. To begin with, she had allowed him to live beneath her roof, assuming that he was a man of honor, and he had simply abused her hospitality. He was thirty-four or thirty-five years of age, so that youth could not be pleaded as his excuse; nor could ignorance be his excuse since he was a man who had seen something of the world. He had simply taken advantage of Polly's youth and inexperienc e: that was evident (James Joyce 40). Nonetheless, it is painfully obvious that Mrs. Mooney selfishly and manipulatively took advantage of Mr. Doran. One does not have the right to use another individual as a way to further themselves without morally accrediting the respect and acknowledgement they deserve as a person. I strongly feel it was despicable what Mrs. Mooney did. One can agree it is always wrong to treat another human being as a mere means and not as an end in his or her own right. As I have stated earlier, I feel Mrs. Mooney treated Mr. Doran as a mere means and not as an end in his own right. However, one can argue-because Mr. Doran and Polly were both legally consenting adults-that maybe Mrs. Mooney has no right to interfere with the personal lives of either person. Furthermore, one might possibly argue the fact that because Polly is nineteen-years-old, very flirtatious, and single, that this was a very effective means of finding the ideal person to marry her daughter. After all Mr. Doran does have a secure job, he