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Counterparts
The story recounts an evening in the life of a man named Farrington, frequently referred to simply as "the man". Farrington’s difficulties begin at his clerical job when his boss Mr. Alleyne berates him for not having finished an assignment. Instead of applying himself immediately to the task, the alcoholic Farrington slips out of the office for a quick beer. When Mr. Alleyne yells at Farrington again, Farrington replies with an impertinent remark and has to apologize. We learn that Farrington’s relationship with his superior has never been a good one, partly due to Mr. Alleyne’s overhearing of Farrington mocking his Ulster accent.
After work, Farrington joins his friends at various pubs, but only after he pawns his watch-chain for drinking money. Farrington’s account of his standing up to his boss earns him some respect. However, his revelries end in two humiliations: a perceived slight by an elegant young woman and defeat in an arm-wrestling contest. Farrington goes home in a foul mood. After learning that his wife is out at the chapel, he beats one of his five children. The story ends as his little boy, Tom, pleads for mercy.
After work, Farrington joins his friends at various pubs, but only after he pawns his watch-chain for drinking money. Farrington’s account of his standing up to his boss earns him some respect. However, his revelries end in two humiliations: a perceived slight by an elegant young woman and defeat in an arm-wrestling contest. Farrington goes home in a foul mood. After learning that his wife is out at the chapel, he beats one of his five children. The story ends as his little boy, Tom, pleads for mercy.
22 pages
First published January 1, 1914
1 person is currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
James Joyce
1,746 books9,571 followersJames Joyce was an Irish novelist, poet, and a pivotal figure in 20th-century modernist literature, renowned for his highly experimental approach to language and narrative structure, particularly his pioneering mastery and popularization of the stream-of-consciousness technique. Born into a middle-class Catholic family in the Rathgar suburb of Dublin in 1882, Joyce spent the majority of his adult life in self-imposed exile across continental Europe—living in Trieste, Zurich, and Paris—yet his entire, meticulous body of work remained obsessively and comprehensively focused on the minutiae of his native city, making Dublin both the meticulously detailed setting and a central, inescapable character in his literary universe. His work is consistently characterized by its technical complexity, rich literary allusion, intricate symbolism, and an unflinching examination of the spectrum of human consciousness. Joyce began his published career with Dubliners (1914), a collection of fifteen short stories offering a naturalistic, often stark, depiction of middle-class Irish life and the moral and spiritual paralysis he observed in its inhabitants, concluding each story with a moment of crucial, sudden self-understanding he termed an "epiphany." This collection was followed by the highly autobiographical novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), a Bildungsroman that meticulously chronicled the intellectual and artistic awakening of its protagonist, Stephen Dedalus, who would become Joyce's recurring alter ego and intellectual stand-in throughout his major works.
His magnum opus, Ulysses (1922), is universally regarded as a landmark work of fiction that fundamentally revolutionized the novel form. It compressed the events of a single, ordinary day—June 16, 1904, a date now globally celebrated by literary enthusiasts as "Bloomsday"—into a sprawling, epic narrative that structurally and symbolically paralleled Homer's Odyssey, using a dazzling array of distinct styles and linguistic invention across its eighteen episodes to explore the lives of Leopold Bloom, his wife Molly Bloom, and Stephen Dedalus in hyper-minute detail. The novel's explicit content and innovative, challenging structure led to its initial banning for obscenity in the United States and the United Kingdom, turning Joyce into a cause célèbre for artistic freedom and the boundaries of literary expression. His final, most challenging work, Finnegans Wake (1939), pushed the boundaries of language and conventional narrative even further, employing a dense, dream-like prose filled with multilingual puns, invented portmanteau words, and layered allusions that continues to divide and challenge readers and scholars to this day. A dedicated polyglot who reportedly learned several languages, including Norwegian simply to read Ibsen in the original, Joyce approached the English language not as a fixed entity with rigid rules, but as a malleable medium capable of infinite reinvention and expression. His personal life was marked by an unwavering dedication to his literary craft, a complex, devoted relationship with his wife Nora Barnacle, and chronic, debilitating eye problems that necessitated numerous painful surgeries throughout his life, sometimes forcing him to write with crayons on large white paper. Despite these severe physical ailments and financial struggles, his singular literary vision remained sharp, focused, and profoundly revolutionary. Joyce passed away in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1941, shortly after undergoing one of his many eye operations. Today, he is widely regarded as perhaps the most significant and challenging writer of the 20th century. His immense, complex legacy is robustly maintained by global academic study and institutions such as the James Joyce Centre in Dublin, which ensures his complex, demanding, and utterly brilliant work endures, inviting new generations of readers to explore the very essence of what it means to be hum
His magnum opus, Ulysses (1922), is universally regarded as a landmark work of fiction that fundamentally revolutionized the novel form. It compressed the events of a single, ordinary day—June 16, 1904, a date now globally celebrated by literary enthusiasts as "Bloomsday"—into a sprawling, epic narrative that structurally and symbolically paralleled Homer's Odyssey, using a dazzling array of distinct styles and linguistic invention across its eighteen episodes to explore the lives of Leopold Bloom, his wife Molly Bloom, and Stephen Dedalus in hyper-minute detail. The novel's explicit content and innovative, challenging structure led to its initial banning for obscenity in the United States and the United Kingdom, turning Joyce into a cause célèbre for artistic freedom and the boundaries of literary expression. His final, most challenging work, Finnegans Wake (1939), pushed the boundaries of language and conventional narrative even further, employing a dense, dream-like prose filled with multilingual puns, invented portmanteau words, and layered allusions that continues to divide and challenge readers and scholars to this day. A dedicated polyglot who reportedly learned several languages, including Norwegian simply to read Ibsen in the original, Joyce approached the English language not as a fixed entity with rigid rules, but as a malleable medium capable of infinite reinvention and expression. His personal life was marked by an unwavering dedication to his literary craft, a complex, devoted relationship with his wife Nora Barnacle, and chronic, debilitating eye problems that necessitated numerous painful surgeries throughout his life, sometimes forcing him to write with crayons on large white paper. Despite these severe physical ailments and financial struggles, his singular literary vision remained sharp, focused, and profoundly revolutionary. Joyce passed away in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1941, shortly after undergoing one of his many eye operations. Today, he is widely regarded as perhaps the most significant and challenging writer of the 20th century. His immense, complex legacy is robustly maintained by global academic study and institutions such as the James Joyce Centre in Dublin, which ensures his complex, demanding, and utterly brilliant work endures, inviting new generations of readers to explore the very essence of what it means to be hum
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
June 4, 2024
این روزها صبری برای خوندن رمان بلند ندارم. هر روز توی آشپزخونهی خوابگاه یکی از داستانهای کوتاه جویس رو میخونم و بیشتر عاشقش میشم. Counterparts الآن تموم شد و باید بگم بینظیری مرد! از سردرد و تپش قلب دارم میمیرم!
October 19, 2018
A harsh lesson to be learned here. It makes you think about how making foolish and damaging choices in life can hurt the ones around you, even the ones you love most. One bad thing can lead to another. Your actions have an impact on the people and the world around you.
October 18, 2020
Resumidamente, um bêbado falta ao trabalho para beber e volta para casa para bater no filho. É mais do que isto mas também é isto.
July 29, 2016
I have arranged my thoughts on this short story into a haiku:
"Wasting potential,
Dampening the awareness
Of how, what, and why."
"Wasting potential,
Dampening the awareness
Of how, what, and why."
September 2, 2021
It is a truism that short story collections should open strong, to make a good first impression, and also end with one of the best, to leave the reader feeling satisfied. The middle of a collection, although not often specified, might be stuffed with lesser works.
"Counterparts" (in the middle of the collection Dubliners) shares much thematic resonance with the preceding story "A Little Cloud." The bulk of both these stories follows a man out on the town drinking with at least one companion, then the story abruptly and miserably ends when he returns home to his wife and children. In "A Little Cloud" Little Chandler dreams of being a writer; in "Counterparts" Farrington's compelling desire is to drink, to be drunk. In both stories, the return to wife and family is a return to reality — a burdensome domestic reality that brings the man back down to earth, and brings out the worst of his character.
In "Counterparts" Farrington is not a writer or a poet, but merely a copyist. I wonder if that is connected, somewhere deep in the fear-ridden morass of Joyce's psyche, to the compulsion to drown himself in drink?
"Counterparts" (in the middle of the collection Dubliners) shares much thematic resonance with the preceding story "A Little Cloud." The bulk of both these stories follows a man out on the town drinking with at least one companion, then the story abruptly and miserably ends when he returns home to his wife and children. In "A Little Cloud" Little Chandler dreams of being a writer; in "Counterparts" Farrington's compelling desire is to drink, to be drunk. In both stories, the return to wife and family is a return to reality — a burdensome domestic reality that brings the man back down to earth, and brings out the worst of his character.
In "Counterparts" Farrington is not a writer or a poet, but merely a copyist. I wonder if that is connected, somewhere deep in the fear-ridden morass of Joyce's psyche, to the compulsion to drown himself in drink?
April 23, 2024
Horrible.
Not worth reviewing.
For the moment at least.
It’s public domain. You can find it HERE.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1914] [19p] [Classics] [0.5] [HIGHLY Not Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
Horrible.
No vale la pena reseñarlo.
Al menos por ahora.
Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1914] [19p] [Clásicos] [0.5] [ALTAMENTENo Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
Not worth reviewing.
For the moment at least.
It’s public domain. You can find it HERE.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1914] [19p] [Classics] [0.5] [HIGHLY Not Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
Horrible.
No vale la pena reseñarlo.
Al menos por ahora.
Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1914] [19p] [Clásicos] [0.5] [ALTAMENTENo Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
September 22, 2018
This story brings to light ‘the dominoes effect’ that the different types of violence originate. Farrington is an alcoholic ,whose powerlessness drives him to abuse others in order to attain a sense of self-satisfaction. He is absolutely discriminated against due to his dark-wine colored complexion and his lower social status. The abuse practiced against him ,through those who think him to be a wretch, builds up a bit at a time ,then is projected upon a blameless, caring and loving family member.
A must read.
A must read.
May 6, 2019
Starting this story for #Dubliners2019 today. Join us on YouTube!
January 21, 2025
very nicely done 👏
December 24, 2020
I was scrolling for more and I realised, the story just ended.
I stopped, wondered, what was this all about!
Then I let myself to re-wind what I felt reading the story.
The felt emotions were the suppressed anger, the craving for comfort, the need for money, the validation for one's actions, the need for love, the frustration of being low in the power heirarchy, the need also to reign supreme on somebody( if not your boss then on the little vulnerable boy.)
Farrington is not a likeabke character; shirker, alchoholic, irresponsible, lazy and an abusive father...yet he also represents all the yearnings of an average human being on earth.
The title as in a poem, holds significance in a short story too. So counterpart then is the unrelenting duplicating and repetition of events. Is there then a moral to the story? What goes around, comes around....is that it?
I stopped, wondered, what was this all about!
Then I let myself to re-wind what I felt reading the story.
The felt emotions were the suppressed anger, the craving for comfort, the need for money, the validation for one's actions, the need for love, the frustration of being low in the power heirarchy, the need also to reign supreme on somebody( if not your boss then on the little vulnerable boy.)
Farrington is not a likeabke character; shirker, alchoholic, irresponsible, lazy and an abusive father...yet he also represents all the yearnings of an average human being on earth.
The title as in a poem, holds significance in a short story too. So counterpart then is the unrelenting duplicating and repetition of events. Is there then a moral to the story? What goes around, comes around....is that it?
March 30, 2018
Read in Dubliners.
A drunk skips out on work to drink and then goes home to beat his child.
A drunk skips out on work to drink and then goes home to beat his child.
August 4, 2020
Insightful, pitiful, and ultimately 😢
August 27, 2025
Counterparts by James Joyce
Humor and horror
Even if there is some tension from the very start, I did not at all expect it to turn into a horror story. I will not say what happens, in a way I do not even need to, since nothing “much „is going on, out of the ordinary, except for a beating and a heart breaking child, who makes this story a wonderful plea against violence, and especially that cruel, most vile and loathsome sort- manifested against children.
„Here he halted, puffing with labour and vexation, and knocked. The shrill voice cried...”
The start of the tale is funny, even if punctuated by puffing and fury. There are problems in the office, connected with a contract, delays and nepotism, among others.
These troubles cause the anger of Mr. Alleyne, the superior of Farrington who is the hero of our short saga.
From the first few lines and nasty encounter with his boss, Farrington feels the need for a night’s drinking, for which he doesn’t have the money. But to quench his thirst, he steps out of the office and takes a glass of plain porter.
Back at the office, he finds that Mr. Alleyne had been calling for him….again.
Farrington has work to do on the contract, but
„The dark damp night was coming and he longed to spend it in the bars, drinking with his friends amid the glare of gas and the clatter of glasses”
What efficiency can one have, when his mind is not at all on the job at hand, but wondering through the pubs nearby? We may feel some compassion for Farrington, but I would not want him working at the company where I am a partner. There are three types of workers: those who are only interested in the pay, others who want a career and promotions and the last group feels the calling. And this is the case no matter what the job is, in fact, there are janitors who feel happier with their job than doctors – when the first have a calling and the others belong to the categories of interested in pay and career. Farrington does not have a calling, and neither an interest in a career. He is there for the pay and keeps mentioning the fact that he would want some money to go out drinking.
„His body ached to do something, to rush out and revel in violence. All the indignities of his life enraged him”
A high point of the conflict in the office comes when Farrington is asked –again- in the office of Mr. Alleyne, who is as mad as hell, because the clerk had not done his job- letters are missing and all.
- Do you take me for a fool, asks the boss
- "I don't think, sir," he said, "that that's a fair question to put to me."
And the hell breaks loose, in a comic manner:
„Mr. Alleyne flushed to the hue of a wild rose and his mouth twitched with a dwarf s passion. He shook his fist in the man's face till it seemed to vibrate like the knob of some electric machine:
"You impertinent ruffian! You impertinent ruffian! I'll make short work of you!
Farrington apologizes and then has to try and find a way to get money to drink, and decides on the pawn- office. The events of the evening become laughing stories when he meets his friends and they start drinking.
“The talk became theatrical”
We learn that Farrington has five children and after the events of a drinking party:
„He was full of smouldering anger and revengefulness. He felt humiliated and discontented; he did not even feel drunk; and he had only twopence in his pocket. He cursed everything. He had done for himself in the office, pawned his watch, spent all his money; and he had not even got drunk..”
And this is not the end, it worth reading on, the whole story which combines in an exceptional way humor and horror. Apart from a challenge at the drinking house, I am not sure who the counterparts are:
- Is it Farrington and his boss?
- Or the two men challenging each other at the Scotch House?
You can read the whole story at:
http://www.online-literature.com/jame...
Humor and horror
Even if there is some tension from the very start, I did not at all expect it to turn into a horror story. I will not say what happens, in a way I do not even need to, since nothing “much „is going on, out of the ordinary, except for a beating and a heart breaking child, who makes this story a wonderful plea against violence, and especially that cruel, most vile and loathsome sort- manifested against children.
„Here he halted, puffing with labour and vexation, and knocked. The shrill voice cried...”
The start of the tale is funny, even if punctuated by puffing and fury. There are problems in the office, connected with a contract, delays and nepotism, among others.
These troubles cause the anger of Mr. Alleyne, the superior of Farrington who is the hero of our short saga.
From the first few lines and nasty encounter with his boss, Farrington feels the need for a night’s drinking, for which he doesn’t have the money. But to quench his thirst, he steps out of the office and takes a glass of plain porter.
Back at the office, he finds that Mr. Alleyne had been calling for him….again.
Farrington has work to do on the contract, but
„The dark damp night was coming and he longed to spend it in the bars, drinking with his friends amid the glare of gas and the clatter of glasses”
What efficiency can one have, when his mind is not at all on the job at hand, but wondering through the pubs nearby? We may feel some compassion for Farrington, but I would not want him working at the company where I am a partner. There are three types of workers: those who are only interested in the pay, others who want a career and promotions and the last group feels the calling. And this is the case no matter what the job is, in fact, there are janitors who feel happier with their job than doctors – when the first have a calling and the others belong to the categories of interested in pay and career. Farrington does not have a calling, and neither an interest in a career. He is there for the pay and keeps mentioning the fact that he would want some money to go out drinking.
„His body ached to do something, to rush out and revel in violence. All the indignities of his life enraged him”
A high point of the conflict in the office comes when Farrington is asked –again- in the office of Mr. Alleyne, who is as mad as hell, because the clerk had not done his job- letters are missing and all.
- Do you take me for a fool, asks the boss
- "I don't think, sir," he said, "that that's a fair question to put to me."
And the hell breaks loose, in a comic manner:
„Mr. Alleyne flushed to the hue of a wild rose and his mouth twitched with a dwarf s passion. He shook his fist in the man's face till it seemed to vibrate like the knob of some electric machine:
"You impertinent ruffian! You impertinent ruffian! I'll make short work of you!
Farrington apologizes and then has to try and find a way to get money to drink, and decides on the pawn- office. The events of the evening become laughing stories when he meets his friends and they start drinking.
“The talk became theatrical”
We learn that Farrington has five children and after the events of a drinking party:
„He was full of smouldering anger and revengefulness. He felt humiliated and discontented; he did not even feel drunk; and he had only twopence in his pocket. He cursed everything. He had done for himself in the office, pawned his watch, spent all his money; and he had not even got drunk..”
And this is not the end, it worth reading on, the whole story which combines in an exceptional way humor and horror. Apart from a challenge at the drinking house, I am not sure who the counterparts are:
- Is it Farrington and his boss?
- Or the two men challenging each other at the Scotch House?
You can read the whole story at:
http://www.online-literature.com/jame...
January 4, 2025
3.75
A great story that shows a cycle of abuse, but ultimately the narrator, Farrington, is an alcoholic child-abuser.
My enjoyment came in the gradual build, from feeling a level of sympathy for Farrington and then watching as we see him become bitter, angry and then outright violent. I can't help but wonder if his wife is actually abusive based on the violence directed at his own child and his inclination toward infidelity, but she herself wasn't present to care for her children, opting instead for the Chapel. I suppose I'd much rather use religion as a coping mechanism than drink, though.
This was a very real and very relevant story that elicited some actual emotion from me.
A great story that shows a cycle of abuse, but ultimately the narrator, Farrington, is an alcoholic child-abuser.
My enjoyment came in the gradual build, from feeling a level of sympathy for Farrington and then watching as we see him become bitter, angry and then outright violent. I can't help but wonder if his wife is actually abusive based on the violence directed at his own child and his inclination toward infidelity, but she herself wasn't present to care for her children, opting instead for the Chapel. I suppose I'd much rather use religion as a coping mechanism than drink, though.
This was a very real and very relevant story that elicited some actual emotion from me.
October 4, 2017
I've only read the Counterparts short but I think dc had a bar named Dubliners I used to go in. Once someone left me a copy of portrait by joyce with a love note in it to Joyce's wife and his name in real life was powers. and in NYC there is a Finnegan wake bar the family likes for a pint and a fish fry or meat pie.
November 7, 2021
One of the short stories from The Dubliners.
Farrington, an alcoholic scribe, works in a legal office. He is berated and picked upon by his employer. After a night in the pub, he returns home in a foul mood and beats his son.
Farrington, an alcoholic scribe, works in a legal office. He is berated and picked upon by his employer. After a night in the pub, he returns home in a foul mood and beats his son.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 18, 2024
ninth story of the
Dubliners
cycles of violence. the man who punches down to feel tall renders himself much smaller than anything.
cycles of violence. the man who punches down to feel tall renders himself much smaller than anything.
February 21, 2019
Claudia no fue fan de esto.
March 9, 2023
Reminds me of the Engels quote about the proletariat man being the bourgeoisie at home.
August 11, 2023
Beautifully written.
August 27, 2023
Characters were cool, and I adore the themes and implicit message at the end. A tad to be desired in terms of story, but a great read nonetheless.
February 18, 2025
Mid 2.
Was not expecting that.
Was not expecting that.
July 27, 2025
(9/15 i Dubliners)
Denne var også veldig bra! Man blir godt kjent med karakteren på korte sider, artig kar.
Denne var også veldig bra! Man blir godt kjent med karakteren på korte sider, artig kar.
March 25, 2012
Given that I am not Irish would it be wrong for me to comment on the stereotyping in this book about the love of drink? This is a tale of self-loathing from a life the protagonist no longer enjoys. In the end he takes to drinking to absolve his anger but it only makes him more so as he can't even get drunk so he takes it out on his son. Books like this probably inspired the Prohibition movement.
September 6, 2016
Anyway, I knew this is not going to end well but it was not quite the ending I pictured in my mind. Simple yet it got everything one can expect from a short story. Irony , humor , a revenge scheme and a sad ending. This story is somewhat similar to Gogol's "Nose" in my opening. I think its more like a simplified version of The Nose.
June 14, 2010
This book was another short story. The main character was an angry, oppressed, addicted, abusive man. Written from a 1st person perspective...kind of, I didn't like the glimpse into his brain.
November 27, 2012
Such a tragic tale of an irresponsible, lazy, alcoholic father/husband.
January 17, 2016
Mood of impotent rage. Victim becomes victimizer. Irish complicity in their victimization by the British.
April 17, 2017
One bad action will cause a chain of bad actions. Sadly, James Joyce doesn't give us the reserve part: one good action causes a chain of good actions. No redemption. No exist.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews