"The Sisters" is the first short story from the collection of short stories called "Dubliners" by James Joyce. The story is about a young boy who is very close to his priest, named Father Flynn, who has had many strokes and dies at the end of the short story. Although we know the cause of his death there are still many lingering questions that Joyce leaves the reader with. Old Cotter is a character in the story who makes a comment about the boy's relationship with with Father Flynn yet when it is described by the boy it seems to be innocent. We also learn through the father's sisters that he began going mentally insane before his death. He was caught talking and laughing to himself towards the end of his life. This is all we learn, Joyce leaves the reader hanging with respect to finding out what was wrong mentally with the father.
Based on the first short story of the series of stories in "Dubliners", I would predict that two of the major trends or themes in the stories to come would be unfortunate death and unanswered questions. Joyce probably leaves many of his stories open ended so that it is up to the interpretation of the reader. Another theme in the book could be judgement because it seems as though many people were judging Father Flynn after his death and criticizing his life, everyone except for the boy. Tragedy will likely be a theme in the stories to come because it is tragic that the boy lost this role model in the first story and that trend will be likely to continue. The first short story, "The Sisters" definitely helps to hook readers and make them want to continue reading onto the next story to learn more.
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