A little cloud: riassunto e analisi

A LITTLE CLOUD RIASSUNTO E ANALISI

A little cloud of James Joyce.

The title. A little Cloud of James Joyce may be taken from the Bible (I Kings !8, 44). The little cloud in the Bible puts an end to a long period of drought. Here it could refer to the presence of Gallagher who seems to cast a little cloud over Little Chandler’s life. Anyway it can represent anything that obscures and casts shadows of gloom trouble and suspicion. So it is a sign of hope but of hope deluded. It can also point to Little Chandler’s character, a “little cloud”, like a storm in a tea-cup.  

A painful case: riassunto

A LITTLE CLOUD RIASSUNTO IN INGLESE

A little cloud summary James Joyce. Eight years ago Little Chandler, the main character of the story, saw his friend Gallagher off at the North Wall ; he was escaping to London probably because he had trouble with the police. Gallagher went off to London, and since then has become a great journalist. Chandler is to meet him that night, and he’s growing increasingly excited.
He’s called “Little Chandler” despite his more or less average height because he gives the impression of being small and childlike. He works at his desk in King’s Inns, where he is employed as a clerk most of the time, thinking of people outside the office window and the melancholy of life. He has books of poetry on his shelves at home; sometimes he is seized by desire to read something to his wife, but his timidity holds him back.
His workday ends and he sets off Corless’s, one of Dublin’s most cosmopolitan bars and the appointed meeting place. He remembers Ignatius Gallagher as he was eight years ago. He had always been wild, mixing with rough fellows, borrowing money  from everybody but something in him suggested future success.
Little Chandler cherishes vague dreams of being a poet. The dominant note of his poetry would be melancholy; perhaps some of the English critics would recognize him as one of the Celtic school. At Corless’s, Gallagher greets him enthusiastically. He has aged badly. They talk about their old gang of friends; most have either settled down for modest careers or have gone bankrupt. They talk, Little Chandler shy in the company of his great friend; among the topics is how little Chandler has never travelled.

A LITTLE CLOUD SUMMARY JAMES JOYCE

The farthest he’s been from Ireland is the Isle of Man. Gallagher has wandered about the great cities of Western Europe. Little Chandler finds something upsetting about Gallagher: “There was something vulgar in his friend which he had not observed before”. Gallagher laughs at Chandler’s provincial attitudes and shocks him with immoral stories of religious houses in Europe and the wild parties of the aristocracy.
The conversation turns back to Chandler. He has been married for over a year, they have a baby boy. Chandler invites Gallagher over to see the wife and child, but Gallagher’s time in Ireland is too short and busy to permit a visit. The next time Gallagher comes, the man say, and at Chandler’s insistence, they have another drink. Little Chandler feels the difference between his life and Gallagher’s. He can’t help being jealous; he is Gallagher’s superior in birth and education, but Gallagher has been much more successful.