"Clay" by James Joyce from Dubliners

It's been interesting that a lot of hits to my blog come from Google searches that relate to my literature papers, London by Blake and Frankenstein by Shelley.  So I present the next in my series.  This is an interpretation of the short story "Clay" by James Joyce which is part of the collection Dubliners.  So we get the usual themes of paralysis, epiphany, etc... so if you like, leave a comment, or any feedback that would improve my work.  Anyways hope you enjoy.

In “Clay,” by James Joyce, the first paragraph offers a simple detail, “These brambracks seemed uncut; but if you went closer you would see that they had been cut…” (Joyce, Dubliners 95).  This ordinary cake at the beginning offers the reader a guide on how to view the subsequent story, where things that may seem a certain way on the surface, can be revealed to be something different upon a closer look.  The protagonist Maria cut the cake, thus offering a connection between Maria’s action and the revealed nature of the cake.  Applying this metaphor for Maria’s life, the reader may unearth the possibility of another life, a secret life, that isn’t apparent on the surface, but changes upon acute inspection.