The Boarding House

Another important literary device that Joyce applies is allusion. It is never explicitly stated that Mr. Doran and Polly sleep together, but it is alluded to throughout the story. For example, Mrs. Mooney thinks about “reparations” for her daughter’s “honor,” and Mr. Doran confesses to the priest. The use of allusion is important because many readers of Joyce’s era would have found a more explicit reference to a sexual relationship offensive. Therefore, social norms influence the narrative just as they affect the characters in the story. Later in his career, Joyce became more descriptive in writing about sexual matters, such as in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. In “The Boarding House,” allusion allows readers to focus on the characters’ thoughts instead of their actions.

Joyce uses subtle foreshadowing in the story prior to Mrs. Mooney’s meeting with Mr. Doran. After assessing the strength of her case, Mrs. Mooney feels “satisfied” as she looks in the mirror and thinks how “some mothers she knew […] could not get their daughters off their hands” (Paragraph 11). While the narrative does not confirm for certain that Mr. Doran proposes to Polly, Mrs. Mooney’s reflection suggests that she already feels her daughter is “off her hands.”