The line “He had done for himself in the office, pawned his watch, spent all his money; and he had not even got drunk” sums up Farrington’s pervasive impotence. The beating of his young son in the story’s final scene dramatizes his relationship to his children and, probably, his wife. Like “Eveline,” this story shows how intractable Irish paralysis seemed to Joyce—impossible to ameliorate, much less escape altogether.
As ever, the author subtly holds the English and the Roman Catholic Church accountable. Farrington’s coworkers at the law firm of Crosbie and Alleyne all have English or at least non-Irish names (Parker, Higgins, Shelley, Delacour), the woman who snubs him in the back room at O’Halloran’s says “Pardon!” with a London accent, and just before arriving at home in Sandymount, Farrington passes the barracks where English soldiers live. More than in any Dubliners story yet, Ireland seems here to be a country under extended occupation by foreigners.
In the last scene of “Counterparts,” Farrington’s son reports that Mrs. Farrington is “out at the chapel.” When Farrington begins to beat him, the boy desperately offers “I’ll say a Hail Mary for you . . . ” If not precisely to blame for Ireland’s misery, the church certainly appears powerless against the forces paralyzing the culture.
