The Dead James Joyce

 The Dead

James Joyce

Plot

The story takes place before, during, and after an evening Christmas party attended by Gabriel and Gretta Conroy and their friends and relatives. It leads gradually to Gabriel's late-night epiphany about his life and marriage when a tender song reminds Gretta of a boy who died of love for her.

Story Setting

'The Dead,' along with the other stories in Joyce's Dubliners, takes place in Dublin, Ireland, in the early 20th century. It is winter, and the characters are attending a holiday party at the home of the main characters' aunts.

Physical setting

The short story “The Dead” by James Joyce takes place in Dublin, Ireland, at the beginning of the 20th century. 

Most of the story takes place in the home of Aunt Julia and Kate, during the Christmas party which they host every year. The story stresses the repetitive nature of the event as they have been holding this party for 30 years. This suggests they are stuck in the past. 

Their house is described as a “dark and gaunt house on Usher’s Island, the upper part of which they had rented from Mr Fulham, the corn-factor on the ground floor.” The atmosphere during the party is lively and, for the most part, joyful. It provides an accurate description of Irish society at the beginning of the 20th century. There are many characters in the story, all of whom are given a unique voice. 

Major Themes in The Dead

“The Dead” by James Joyce is a story that showcases several themes. One of the most prominent themes is death and its inevitability. Throughout the story, characters are constantly reminded that death is a part of life and that it is something that cannot be avoided. This theme is highlighted in the story’s opening scene, where Gabriel Conroy struggles with the idea of mortality and thinks about his own eventual death. This theme is further emphasized in the story’s closing scene, where Gabriel reflects on the death of his wife, Gretta, and the end of their life together.

Another theme displayed in the Dead is the idea of tradition and the past. The story occurs during Christmas, when people often reflect on their experiences and memories. This is demonstrated through the various stories and memories shared by the characters, such as Gretta’s memories of her past love, Michael Furey. These stories and memories remind the characters of the importance of their past experiences and how they have shaped who they are today.

The theme of loneliness is also prominent in the Dead. Many of the characters in the story are depicted as feeling isolated and disconnected from others, even when they are in the company of others. This is particularly evident in the character of Gabriel, who is described as feeling alone despite being surrounded by family and friends. This theme is further emphasized in the story’s closing scene, where Gabriel realizes that he and Gretta have grown apart and their love for each other has faded.

Another important theme in the Dead is the idea of change and adaptation. Throughout the story, characters are presented with new experiences and challenges and must find ways to adjust and cope. This theme is demonstrated through Gabriel’s experiences at the Christmas party, where he must navigate the social dynamics and expectations of the guests, and in his relationship with Gretta, where he must adapt to her changing feelings and emotions.

The theme of love and relationships is also explored in the Dead. Throughout the story, characters are depicted as struggling with their relationships and trying to find ways to connect with others. This is demonstrated in the relationship between Gabriel and Gretta, where Gabriel must grapple with the idea that his wife may not love him as she once did. The theme of love is also depicted in the relationship between Michael Furey and Gretta, where Gretta’s love for Michael represents a reminder of the passion and intensity that can exist in a relationship.

Finally, the Dead also explores the theme of social class and hierarchy. Throughout the story, characters are depicted as conscious of their social status and the expectations and responsibilities that come with it. This is demonstrated in Gabriel’s interactions with the other guests at the Christmas party, where he must navigate the social dynamics and hierarchy of the group, and in his relationship with his wife, where he must reconcile his own social status with her own lower-class background.

The setting of “The Dead”

The setting of “The Dead” by James Joyce takes place in Dublin, Ireland, in the early 20th century. The story is set during the festive season of Christmas, specifically during the Christmas party of the Morkan sisters. The party takes place in the sisters’ home, a traditional Irish house in a quiet, respectable neighborhood in Dublin. The house is old-fashioned, with a large parlor, a small hall, and several guest rooms. The atmosphere is cozy and warm, with the smell of burning peat, the soft glow of the lamps, and the sound of music and laughter filling the air. The setting is important as it reflects the traditional and conservative Irish society at the time, which values family, community, and tradition. The party is a microcosm of the larger society, where people gather to socialize, dance, and celebrate the holiday season. Overall, the story’s setting creates a melancholic and nostalgic mood that fits the story’s themes.

Symbolism

In James Joyce’s “The Dead,” symbolism conveys deeper meanings and themes. The snow that falls throughout the story symbolizes death and the end of things, highlighting the ephemeral nature of life. The snow also represents the idea of a blank slate, a clean slate for a new beginning.

The fern represents the idea of something that was once alive but is now dead and wilted, symbolizing the fading of hope, beauty, and life. The use of the name “Gretta” in the story is also symbolic of Ireland’s past, as Gretta is a traditional Irish name, symbolizing the country’s rich cultural heritage.

The use of music in the story also holds significant symbolic meaning. The singing of “The Lass of Aughrim” symbolizes the longing and sadness that Gretta feels for her childhood, the loss of her first love, and the larger loss that Ireland has suffered.

The light in the room also holds symbolic meaning, representing clarity and understanding. The gradual fading of the light in the story symbolizes the characters’ fading knowledge of the past and their own lives and the gradual fading of life itself.

Overall, symbolism in “The Dead” adds depth and complexity to the story, allowing Joyce to explore themes of death, loss, love, and cultural heritage profoundly and poignantly.

Conclusion

In conclusion, The Dead by James Joyce is a story that explores a number of themes, including death and its inevitability, tradition and the past, loneliness, change and adaptation, love and relationships, and social class and hierarchy. The story offers a rich and complex portrayal of the human experience through these themes. It provides a thought-provoking examination of how people navigate the challenges and complexities of life.

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the theme of "The Dead" by James Joyce?

There are numerous themes that can be interpreted in reading "The Dead" by James Joyce. Some of the more significant ones are how people adapt to change, how identity is forged, and how stream-of-consciousness can be employed as a literary device.

Why did James Joyce write "The Dead?"

Joyce wrote "The Dead" as part of a larger collection titled "Dubliners." He wanted to capture Irish society at the threshold of its independence, which would come about six years later. At the time he thought Irish society was stagnant, too afraid to embrace change at the expense of its old traditions. As such, this book was an overall exploration of that sentiment.

What is Gabriel's epiphany in "The Dead?"

At the end of the story, Gabriel has an epiphany while watching the falling snow outside his window. He realizes that death is the great unifier. For all the anger and conflict in the world, everyone ends up the same, their differences obscured.

What does the snow symbolize in "The Dead" by James Joyce?

The imagery of the snow at the end of "The Dead" by James Joyce serves as a visual metaphor for death. The snow falls, blanketing all of Ireland and creating a more universal form. Death has the same effect, it reduces all our differences and characteristics to a single, universal state.

''The Dead'' Characters

There are numerous characters who appear in this short story; a list of the main characters is compiled below.

• Gabriel Conroy - main protagonist. Teaches at a university and is an established intellectual. Nephew of Kate and Julia Morkan.
• Gretta Conroy - Gabriel's wife.
• Kate Morkan and Julia Morkan - elderly sisters who host a Christmas party each year in their home.
• Mary Jane Morkan - niece of Kate and Julia who also lives in the same house. A skilled piano player.
• Lily - household helper to the Morkan ladies.
• Molly Ivers - acquaintance of the family and an Irish nationalist.
• Freddy Malins - friend of the family and a raging alcoholic
• Bartell D'Arcy - a professional singer, there to visit
• Mr. Browne - friend of the family and a womanizer. Also, the only Protestant at the party.

Important Characters of The Dead by James Joyce

Mr. Browne

Mr. Browne is an important character. One of the guests at the Morkans’ party, Mr. Browne likes to drink whiskey and flirt with the ladies. People do not seem to take to him as well as he would like to think – Kate Morkan, for example, walks away when he begins to explain why women are so fond of him. Some critics see him as symbolizing English rule over Ireland. Aunt Kate says of him in an irritable tone, “Browne is everywhere,” just as the presence of Britain is ominously everywhere in Ireland. Also, he is the only Protestant in the story, while the rest of the people are Irish Catholic. In Ireland it was and still is characteristic of Protestants to favor British rule, while Catholics tend to favor independence. He seems to be condescending toward other people. He continually mispronounces Freddy Malins’s name as “Teddy,” and after Miss Julia sings, he mockingly says she is his latest discovery, then “laughs heartily” at his comment. When Freddy tells him that he might make a worse discovery, Browne keeps his condescension, saying, “I think her voice has greatly improved.” At one point, Kate signals to him to make sure that Freddy Malins drinks no more whiskey, as if Browne serves some authoritative function, like a policeman.

Gabriel

Gabriel, the nephew of Julia and Kate Morkan and cousin of Mary Jane, is the main character of the story. He is a young man, married and the father of two. Critics point out that Gabriel is the name of one of the archangels in the Bible, the messenger who announced the coming births of John the Baptist to Zechariah and the Messiah to Mary. The other archangel, Michael, is portrayed in the Bible as a warrior. In “The Dead” Gabriel is a more passive character than the dead Michael Furey. Critics note parallels between Gabriel and Joyce, surmising that Gabriel might be Joyce’s portrait of his future self had he not left Ireland. Like Joyce, Gabriel lost his mother when he was younger; he writes reviews for the Daily Express; he is a literary person and an English professor; and he is less provincial than his contemporaries, seeing importance in absorbing European as well as Irish culture. Kate and Julia are both anxious for him to arrive at the party, give him the honor of carving the goose, and have him give a dinner speech every year. However, to some he comes across as condescending, for he smiles at the way Lily pronounces his surname, and when he inadvertently arouses her anger, he gives her money to appease her rather than making up for his carelessness in a more personal manner. He believes that if he quotes poetry by Robert Browning in his dinner speech, his audience will not understand his “superior education.” Finally, he thinks his aunts are “two ignorant old women.” Yet at the same time he is a sensitive, self-conscious, and timid person who is shaken by Lily’s retort to his attempt at casual conversation. He does not know how to react to Molly Ivors when she accuses him of being a West Briton and thus sympathetic to English rule. He is afraid of “risking a grandiose phrase with her” in a public forum. Some believe that although he clearly loves and cares about Gretta, Gabriel treats his wife as more a prize than a human being. He fusses over her as if she were a child, making her wear galoshes although he knows she doesn’t mind the snow. He jokes that she takes three “mortal hours” to get ready to go somewhere. When she becomes excited at the prospect of going back to Galway, where she grew up, his annoyance with Molly makes him curt with Gretta, and he tells her that she can go alone if she wants. For most of the story Gabriel takes Gretta for granted, beaming at her with pride and, later, lust. Not until after she tells him about Michael Furey does he see his relationship with her differently. Gabriel is the one character who seems to go through a change at the end of the story, where he has a sudden realization about his relationship with his wife as well as a realization about himself and the human condition.

Gretta

Gretta is the wife of Gabriel Conroy. Like Joyce’s wife, Nora, Gretta comes from Galway, a rural region of western Ireland. She seems to love Gabriel and playfully teases him about his solicitous manner toward herself and their children. Gabriel is not, however, the first person she has loved. After hearing Bartell D’Arcy sing “The Lass of Aughrim,” she is reminded of a former love, Michael Furey, who she says “died for her.” According to Gretta, Michael was passionately in love with her when she was a young woman. Knowing that she was going to a convent, Michael stood outside her window at the end of the garden in the rain the night before her departure. He told her that he didn’t want to live, and he died after she had been in the convent only a week.

Michael

Michael is the love of Gretta Conroy’s past, a gentle and delicate youth, mentioned only near the end of the story. Critics point out that Michael is the name of one of the biblical archangels, who is portrayed as a warrior as opposed to the archangel Gabriel, who has a more passive role as a messenger. Even Michael’s last name connotes passion. Michael is an example of living life passionately, where Gabriel Conroy lives it more timidly and passively. Gabriel realizes that he has never loved anyone the way Michael loved Gretta. Gretta tells Gabriel that Michael was an excellent singer and wanted to study music, but he had poor health and worked at the gasworks. When Gretta was a young woman, she left Galway to spend the winter at a convent in Dublin. At the time she had a relationship with Michael, who was seventeen. He came outside her home on the cold, rainy night before she left, told her that he did not want to live, and died a week after she reached the convent. Gretta believes he died for her.

Molly Ivors

Molly Ivors, a friend of Gabriel’s with whom he shares a dance, functions in the story as a contrast to Gabriel’s politics. Gabriel notes that their lives are parallel: they went to the university together and they both teach. A passionate Irish nationalist, she feels that it is important to know the Irish culture; Gabriel feels that one should also cultivate the European culture and languages. He tells her that Irish isn’t his language, implying that English is what people speak. Molly accuses Gabriel of being a “West Briton” because he writes for the Daily Express – “West Briton” being a derogatory term, denoting someone loyal to British rule in Ireland, and the Daily Express a newspaper with the political stance favorable to the British. Molly wears a brooch with an Irish design and uses an Irish good-bye, “beannacht libh,” when she leaves the party before dinner.

Lily

Lily is the first character introduced in the story. She is the caretaker’s daughter, the caretaker being a fellow tenant in the building where the Morkans live. She works as the Morkans’ housekeeper, and at the beginning of the story she is busy meeting the guests at the door. Lily makes Gabriel feel uncomfortable after she responds curtly when he asks her if he might be going to her wedding in the future. She says, “The men that is now is only all palaver and what they can get out of you.” Kate says that she does not know what has come over Lily and that “she’s not the girl she was at all.”

Freddy Malins

Freddy Malins is a friend of the Morkans’ and a guest at their party. Freddy has a drinking problem – Julia and Kate are concerned that he will come to the party “screwed.” Some critics think Freddy is Gabriel’s counterpart because he comes to the party at almost the same time and they are physically similar. Freddy calls Mr. Browne on a sarcastic remark about “discovering” Julia’s singing, defending her with the words, “Well, Browne, if you’re serious you might make a worse discovery. All I can say is I never heard her sing half as well as long as I am coming here. And that’s the honest truth.”

Summary of The Dead by James Joyce

Gabriel’s Arrival

Sisters Julia and Kate Morkan are hosting their annual holiday party and anxiously awaiting the arrival of their nephew Gabriel Conroy, who is the son of their late sister Ellen. It is after 10 p.m., and so far he has not come. When Gabriel and his wife, Gretta, arrive, Gabriel tries to engage in small talk with Lily, the housekeeper, who meets them at the door. He asks whether he will be going to her wedding with her “young man,” and Lily bitterly replies, “The men that is now is only all palaver and what they can get out of you.” Her reply flusters Gabriel, and he feels that he has made some sort of mistake. In an effort to make up for it, he gives Lily a coin, saying that it is a Christmas present. She tries to refuse it, but he is already running up the stairs to where the music and dancing are taking place.

Before entering the room where the guests are dancing and socializing, Gabriel waits for a waltz to finish and looks over the speech that he will give after dinner. He considers cutting a Robert Browning quotation from it because it might go over the heads of his audience, making him look as if he were “airing his superior education.” He fears that he will fail with them just as he did moments before with Lily. His aunts and his wife good-naturedly tease Gabriel about how he fusses over his family’s health, and Gabriel laughs nervously. When the waltz finishes, Freddy Malins arrives. Aunt Kate asks Gabriel to go downstairs to make sure their friend Freddy is not drunk. She is relieved to have Gabriel present. Another guest, Mr. Browne, flirts with several of the women, who ignore him. When everyone begins to dance again, Mary Jane pairs Miss Daly with Bartell D’Arcy, the tenor. Gabriel guides Freddy up into the back room where the refreshments are being served. Freddy laughs at his own stories and is soon given lemonade instead of whiskey.

Confrontation with Molly Ivors

In a later dance, Gabriel is partnered with Miss Molly Ivors, a longtime friend and fellow teacher. Molly has a “crow to pluck” with him because she saw a review of his in the Daily Express, a conservative newspaper supporting British rule in Ireland. Molly, an Irish nationalist, accuses Gabriel of being a “West Briton” – an Irish person who is loyal to England. Gabriel is taken aback by her accusation and feels uncomfortable responding to her in such a public place. Miss Ivors invites him to go on an excursion to the Aran Isles, a group of islands off of Galway in the western part of Ireland. She asks if Gretta is from there, to which Gabriel replies coldly, “Her people are.” Gabriel tells her that he likes to go cycling in Belgium or France. When Molly asks why, he says that it is to keep in touch with the language and for a change in atmosphere. Molly accusingly asks why he doesn’t keep in touch with his own language, Irish. Gabriel replies that Irish is not his language, and he grows increasingly nervous. Molly presses the point, asking whether he doesn’t have his own land to visit and his own people, whom he knows nothing about. Gabriel says that he is sick of his country. After dancing with Molly, Gabriel dwells on what she said as he visits with Freddy Malins’s mother. Gretta comes over asking him to carve the goose, as he usually does. She asks what words he had with Molly, and he says that she invited him to go to western Ireland. Being from that region, Gretta excitedly encourages him to go because she would love to see Galway again. He curtly tells her that she can go alone if she’d like. He continues to dwell on Molly, wondering whether she has a life beyond her politics. He decides that in his speech he might contrast his aunt’s generation with the current generation of Miss Ivors, which lacks the hospitality, humor, and humanity of the older.

The Dinner

To Gabriel’s relief, Molly leaves before dinner begins. Gabriel carves the goose and serves everyone before himself sitting down to eat. The conversation turns to the opera, particularly to tenors past and present, Irish and Italian. The time finally comes for Gabriel to give his speech. In his speech he praises his hostesses, Aunt Kate, Aunt Julia, and Mary Jane, as the three Graces. He notes that their hospitality is like Ireland’s own, unique among modern nations, and that while some would consider this trait a failing, he would call it a princely failing. The generation of his two aunts still has the hospitable trait, but he fears that the new “hyper-educated” generation coming up and present in, Ireland lacks it. Alluding to the earlier conversation about great tenors of the past, he encourages his audience to hail and regard the great people of the past. He cautions, however, that one can always dwell on the unpleasant thoughts of the past – past youth, changes, and absent friends – but one should concentrate on the living and one’s current duties and affections. In that context he speaks again of his regard for his hostesses, and all the guests begin singing “for they are jolly gay fellows.”

After midnight, people begin putting on their coats to leave for home. While arranging cab rides and waiting for his wife to come downstairs, Gabriel tells the story of his grandfather Patrick Morkan, who once drove his mill horse into town for a military parade. The horse was used to walking around in a circle in order to run a machine that ground starch, and when Patrick took the horse to the park, it started walking in circles around a statue of King William III of England. Gabriel imitates the action by walking around in a circle himself. As Freddy and Mr. Browne are leaving, Gabriel notices the figure of a woman standing at the top of the stairway listening to an air being sung. It is his wife. She seems pensive and dignified to Gabriel, and he imagines that if he were a painter and painted the scene, he would call it Distant Music. After the singing stops, Gretta asks Mr. D’Arcy what he was singing, and he replies, “The Lass of Aughrim.” This vision of his wife arouses Gabriel’s passion for her. On the ride home he admires her appearance and thinks about the early days of their courtship. When they get to the hotel, he is in an intense state of lust and passion, but Gretta seems distant and preoccupied. She finally walks over and kisses him. When they embrace he asks her what is the matter. She breaks down, falls on the bed, and cries. She tells him that the song Mr. D’Arcy sang reminded her of a young man she knew who also used to sing that song. His name was Michael Furey, and she feels that he died for her. They had courted, but one winter Gretta decided to move to a convent in Dublin. The night before she left, Michael, already sickly, came to her house in the cold rain and threw gravel against her window. When she went outside to him and told him he should go so as not to become even more dangerously ill, he told her that he did not want to live because she was leaving.

The Epiphany  / Realization

As Gretta sleeps, Gabriel thinks about what she has told him. He now sees his wife differently, and he watches her sleep as though he and she had never lived together. Remembering watching his Aunt Julia singing and the look on her aging face, he knows that very soon he will be going to her funeral. Everyone slowly fades away, “becoming shades.” He thinks that perhaps it is best to boldly and passionately pass into the next world than to slowly wither away with age. Thinking of Michael Furey, Gabriel realizes that he could never love a person the way Michael loved Gretta. He feels his soul has reached the place of the dead and that the living world is ‘becoming nonexistent, as if he is outside his body. He hears the snow tapping on the window pane and knows that it is time to begin “his journey westward.” The snow falls on everything all over Ireland, on the living and the dead.