How and with what effects, is symbolism used in Dubliners? You may use two or three stories

Symbolism is the use of physical objects to create meaning. T.S Eliot remarked, “The world [of Dublin] was made for Joyce’s convenience” meaning that he didn’t have to manufacture symbols, they were lying on the streets of Dublin, waiting for him to pick them up. Joyce makes use of two key symbols throughout the collection. First, he uses windows not only as a means of accessing the past but also as a means of entrapment. Secondly, the Dubliners walk through the city in a spectrum of grey and black, meaning that the world is never quite fully illuminated. This struggle for light is analogous to many of the characters’ struggle to perceive both themselves and the world around them. Thus, symbols are used as markers to both the characters and the reader of a certain recurring theme or idea.
Throughout the collection, windows are used as a symbol of liminality. On one hand, being transparent, they offer the chance to see the future and therefore ‘bravely’ escape the confines of the city. On the other, being reflective, they entrap the characters. On a purely physical level, if you actually tried to walk through a window, you’d end up with significant injuries. Moreover, as a device for self reflection, windows are not precise. This enables the characters to see a warped version of themselves, which allows them to persist in “...notic[ing] everything except that there [is] no escape from the self, or indeed the dilapidated city” (Colm Toibin). Eveline manages to reflect on her whole life, even coming to the conclusion that she must escape before the narrative turns in on itself, and back to “the odour of the dusty cretonne” and her eventual inability to board the boat for Buenos Aires. Here, the word, ‘dust’ is important, another recurrent symbol in the collection, it points to the fact that the ‘dilapidated city’ is literally gathering dust before the eyes of the Dubliners, without them allowing themselves to realise. In ‘Araby’, the narrator religiously watches ‘Mangan’s sister’, “Every morning I lay on the floor in the front parlour watching her door.” The use of the word, ‘every’ here connotes routine, indeed, through the window and in Mangan’s sister he sees the possibility of something beyond his current existence. Ironic then, that one of the final images of the story is of a broken window. “Through one of the broken panes I heard the rain impinge upon the earth..” At this point in the story, the boy has realised that it is too late to purchase something for Mangan’s sister at the bazaar. Thus, it is interesting that it is through the ‘broken panes’ that he finally sees the truth: that he will not be able to ride away with her into the sunset. Perhaps, windows are actually a barrier to seeing clearly and need to be broken, or removed if the characters are to understand. On the other hand, the reader feels sympathy for the boy, who sees himself as a ‘creature driven and derided by vanity’, the word ‘derided’ suggests that he feels ridiculed by the truth of his predicament. This begs the question of whether the Dubliners should realise the futility of their existence, or whether they should continue to persist, looking through windows at their own delusions.