Now, though, Little Chandler's a family man and Gallaher's a playboy. Little Chandler was the friend who saw him off at the port. Sure, these guys were really close a long time ago. It's that, at a certain point, Little Chandler realizes he doesn't really want someone like Gallaher to give him a hand. See, it's not just that Gallaher doesn't want to help Little Chandler because he's so concerned with his own success.
Instead of recognizing his own weakness, he thinks that Gallaher could be the key to some future success, but, as we're about to see, there's a major traffic jam right where Disappointment Street feeds in. To put it briefly, Little Chandler's ambition is that he has always wanted to be a poet, but he's so shy that he can't even read someone else's poems to his wife, much less write down his own ideas. For the rest of the story, he's going to keep circling around this same spot, so it's going to be hard for him to take the high road when the time comes. Little Chandler leaves his office for a pretty direct walk through Dublin to the bar, but his emotional Google map tells him to turn right at "gentle melancholy" avenue and continue until he hits a traffic circle at the intersection of Ambition, Disappointment, and Self-pity. If he had a motto, it would be, "It is what it is." Uplifting, right? Pedestrian Crossing
But instead of drinking his boredom away (or obsessively checking Facebook), Little Chandler drifts off, thinking not only of his successful friend, but of the "late autumn sunset" and all the "moving figures" who, like him, know that it's "useless to struggle against fortune" (A Little Cloud.3). "His voice was quiet and his manners were refined," which means he's more likely to be voted "Best Dressed," than "Class Clown" or "Life of the Party."Īnd remember, this is a guy with a boring desk job.
From the start, we know this guy isn't hanging with Seth Rogen or Russell Brand. Joyce gives us some background that helps us figure out why he can't simply chill at the bar with an old pal, and why the story has such a serious tone. What puts Little Chandler in this mood, and what does he figure out about himself? A Little Me Time Something about Little Chandler's old friend, Ignatius Gallaher, flips a switch inside him, and he has to rethink everything, first during his walk to Corless's bar to meet Gallaher, and then at home after he's said goodbye. When's the last time you sat down and really thought about your life over the last eight years? If you've ever done it, chances are something really important (or really unpleasant) pushed you to it. Characters in "A Little Cloud" Little Chandler
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