Katherine Anne Porter's Adaptation of Joycean Paralysis

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In her collected letters, Katherine Anne Porter cites James Joyce as an inspiration. This work analyzes Porter's Pale Horse, Pale Rider collection in relationship to Joyce's Dubliners primarily through Porter's use of Joycean paralysis in the three stories "Old Mortality, " "Noon Wine, " and "Pale Horse, Pale Rider." Her characters' states of hopelessness reflect a similar paralysis to those found in Dubliners' "The Dead, " "Grace, " and "Eveline." Porter's collection of stories is not an imitation of Joyce's work, her voice and story settings remain distinct. However, a thread can be found between the two writers' selected works through the oppressiveness of the societies in which the characters in the Pale Horse, Pale Rider series and Dubliners live. This analysis illuminates the hopelessness found in Porter's characters, while surveying the connections that exist between her and Joyce's stories. These connections forge a bridge between Porter and Joyce's literary techniques and highlight the authors' brilliant and socially reflective works of literature and should be especially useful for anyone studying Modern literature.