What significance does "dust" have and why is it mentioned so often in Joyce's story "Eveline"?

Dust is
associated with decay and lifelessness.lives a dismal and hopeless life, and it is the idea of
spiritual lifelessness and paralysis which drives the narrative of Joyce's story
"Eveline."

As the narrative opens, Eveline sits at the window and
regards the evening as it "invades the neighborhood." She is tired and her nostrils
inhale the "odour of dusty cretonne" in the darkening room. Eveline looks around the
room, wondering at the yellowing picture of the priest, whose name she has never learned.
Clearly, there is an aura of spiritual corruption about the priest friend of her father, who
would only say "He is in Melbourne now," a location where many Irish prisoners were
sent. Then, Eveline thinks of the store where she works and the lifeless position she holds
there with Miss Gavan, who often scolds her, "Look lively, Miss Hill,
please."

Similarly, at home Eveline lives a stagnant life. She works
every day and turns over her salary to her father. After her mother's death, Eveline has had to
do all the housework and cooking. And, yet, with all her drudgery and discontent and even
physical abuse by her father, Eveline is still uncertain about departing from her home with her
sailor named Frank. For, it is the Catholic duties of obedience to her father and caring for her
brother that paralyze Eveline, leaving her in the dusty house and the stagnant environment.
Eveline, a victim of her self-delusion, surrenders to the dust and hopeless paralysis of this
self-deception.