It contrasts the life of the protagonist, Little Chandler, a Dubliner who remained in the city and married, with the life of his old friend Ignatius Gallaher, who had left Ireland to find success and excitement as a journalist and bachelor in London.

The story begins in medias res through Little Chandler's life when he is at work, where he cannot focus because he is preoccupied with the thought of a visit later that day.

But as much as Little Chandler covers up his true feelings with these thoughts that seem to "comfort" him, the reader can see past this.

And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand.

In an analysis of "A Little Cloud", Harold Mosher wrote that, in Dubliners, Joyce uses, and perhaps abuses, both repetition and cliché in order to give the writing a feel of insignificance.

Mosher believes the talking about nothing, in the way that many Joyce characters do, is actually rather important, and argued that, in terms of the language, this style actually portrays an abundance of creativity and quality, rather than the lack of fresh thought that could be implied by the cliché nature of the writing.

[5] It’s been remarked that "a central theme" of Dubliners is expressed in Little Chandler's conclusion that "If you wanted to succeed you had to go away.

"[6] Thomas O'Grady's has argued that the somewhat ambiguous title "A Little Cloud" can be attributed to William Blake's "Infant Sorrow".

O'Grady believes this connection is logical, because it lends structural and thematic significance to the title.

[7] Terence Brown, meanwhile, has suggested the title may be an allusion to the Biblical tale of Elijah and the prophets of Baal and, more particularly, to I Kings 18:44.