In a way,
the first paragraph of 's "" does predict or foreshadow the endalthough it may not be
obvious as one is reading the short story (which eventually became a chapter in
).
She sat at the window watching the
evening invade the avenue. Her head was leaned against the window curtains and in her nostrils
was the odour of dusty cretonne. She was tired.
From this
opening scene, Eveline thinks about her childhoodit was relatively happy, though not without its
challenges, and since then, she has lost both her mother and favorite brother. Her father is a
drinker, and her day-to-day life is hard and exhausting. When she meets Frank, a sailor, she
sees a way out. At this point, the reader might think that the beginning of "Eveline"
is the start of Eveline's story, but it proves to be the ending point as well. Eveline chooses
to stay in her current life rather than to embark on a new adventure with Frank. She stands with
him at the boat they are to leave on, gripping the iron railing, praying for an answer to the
decision of whether to leave with him. She feels a sense of duty to her father and late mother
and feels a fear of the unknown. Finally, it is time to leave, and she lets him go
wordlessly:
She set her white face to him, passive, like a
helpless animal. Her eyes gave him no sign of love or farewell or recognition.
She has chosen to return home, where she will lean her head against
the curtains and be tired once more.
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