Counterparts

“The bell rang furiously and, when Miss Parker went to the tube, a furious voice called out in a piercing north of Ireland accent.”

These opening lines to “Counterparts” create urgency and alarming imagery. The repetition of the word “furious” is part of the broader use of repetitive language, creating a cyclical sense of anger from the start. Mr. Alleyne’s “piercing” accent is not conducive to a productive office. The ringing bell quality of the scene is more fitting for a factory; if that is the case, then Farrington and the men who copy letters are the machines. Further contributing to the tone, when shouting and bells can erupt at any time, a worker is constantly ill at ease in anticipation of the next outburst.

“I told you it must be ready by four o’clock.

—But Mr Shelley said, sir, ….

—Mr Shelley said, sir…. Kindly attend to what I say and not to what Mr Shelley says, sir.”

James Joyce uses dialogue and makes style choices to reveal Mr. Alleyne’s disrespect for his employee. When Farrington attempts to clarify his understanding of the instructions by referencing a previous conversation with Mr. Shelley, his boss cuts him off and imitates him. Joyce uses dashes instead of quotation marks to break from one speaker to the next during periods of dialogue and omits references that clarify who said which parts, as a pointed lack of punctuation or clarity is a common technique across Joyce’s work and creates a sense of overwhelm.