The Sisters, a Meeting, Arabia: themes, symbolism and change The stories collected in Dubliners are mostly predecessors and characterizations of James's later works Joyce. “The Sisters” is no different. Along with "An Encounter" and "Araby", they are drawn from Joyce's personal memories and feelings. The boy and the features of these tales are an indirect sample of Joyce's next published work, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, a novel written primarily from his memory. "The Sisters", by James Joyce, is a story that mixes otherworldly associations with the aim of teaching with realistic commitment, revealing truths about life and death. This tale revolves around a boy's struggle to affirm and rationalize the death and madness of an important figure in his life. The narrator arrives home to find that Father James Flynn, his confidant and informal educator, has just died, which is not surprising, because he had been paralyzed by a stroke for some time. Mr. Cotter, a family friend, and his uncle have much to say about the poor old priest and the narrator's relationship with him. The narrator is angered by their belief that he is incapable, at his young age, of making his own decisions regarding his acquaintances and that he should "run and play with boys his own age..." That night, images of the death haunts him; he attempts to make light of the deceased priest's tormented face by "smiling faintly" in hopes of denying his terrible visions. The following evening, his family visits the home of the old priest and his two caregivers, two sisters, where he lies vigil. There the narrator must try to rationalize his death and the mystery of his previous madness. The title of "The Sisters" is in one case a simple title, but it can also indicate a larger and more expressive intent. First, on a mundane level, the title "The Sisters" indicates the two sisters, Nannie and Eliza, who cared for the priest in his illness and helped arrange the formalities of his passing: embalming and burial documents and insurance. The two sisters express Father Flynn's feelings regarding what happened in the months before his disappearance, helping to explain his serious condition, always repeating: "Ah, poor James!" Secondly, on a more significant and symbolic level, the title can connote the relationship between madness and death or that of a close relationship between sisters.