# James Duffy — Dubliners character guide

> James Duffy in Dubliners by James Joyce.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Mr. James Duffy, Mr. Duffy

**First appearance:** 0010-a-painful-case

## Snapshot

A solitary bank cashier whose one attempt at intimacy with a married woman ends in a retreat he will spend years rationalizing.

## Who they are

Duffy lives alone in Chapelizod, avoids Dublin's social rituals, and keeps his thoughts in a tidy, self-flattering order. His friendship with Mrs. Sinico begins as intellectual confession and slides into something he cannot control. When she misreads his words, he cuts the tie cleanly, and the story follows the long shadow of that refusal.

## In the story

### [A Painful Case](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dubliners_se/chapters/a-painful-case)

A cashier living a rigid, solitary life in Chapelizod; his encounter with Mrs. Sinico briefly disrupts his emotional detachment, but he ultimately rejects her, leading to his profound guilt and isolation after her death.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dubliners_se/characters/james_duffy
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dubliners_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dubliners_se/characters