"The Dead" by James Joyce            Literature Links

A Reader's Guide

Mr. Steen

    Admittedly a long and somewhat difficult story, "The Dead" is the culmination of Joyce's Dubliners. As such, it deals with a man in middle age--Gabriel Conroy--attending a Christmas dinner given by his aged aunts. It is at the end of the year, and they are at the end of their lives, and we are at the end of the book. You get it.

    Gabriel probably represents the man Joyce believes he would have become had he stayed in Ireland. Educated, professional, somewhat provincial, resentful of Ireland and of his aunts, pretentious, and dull. As a main character, Gabriel is vain but self-conscious. He is easily disturbed by his confrontations with Lilli, the caretaker's daughter, and with Miss Ivors, an Irish nationalist.

    As you read the story, keep several threads in mind: 

    First, there's the snow. Gabriel introduces it by bringing it in with him on his coat and galoshes, and Joyce mentions it several times, notably on the statue of the Duke of Wellington and at the end.

    Second, music. Mr. Bartel D'Arcy is a fine tenor, but he refuses to sing at this gathering, complaining of a sore throat. Yet, at the end, he is singing for Gretta. Meanwhile, Mary Jane plays a difficult academy piece on the piano, and there's a great debate over the opera singers of the past. 

    Third is Gabriel's speech. He debates several times putting in this quote or that, and his attitude toward both it and toward the audience that is to hear it is quite revealing of his character.

    Fourth, of course, the dead. Gabriel's mother is dead, as is Michael Furey and Grandfather Patrick and his horse Johnny. Aunt Kate and Aunt Jane are soon to be dead. How do the dead control the living? Are the living here for themselves or for the dear departed?

    Fifth, there is the church. Aunt Kate and Aunt Julia get into it over the priests, and Mr. Browne is of the "other persuasion." 

    Sixth, there is Freddy Malins and drink. Alcohol is a powerful force in Irish life, and both Freddy and Mr. Browne epitomize different ways of dealing with it.

    Finally, there is Gabriel's epiphany. In what I believe is one of the finest passages of prose ever penned in English, Gabriel realizes something about himself at the end that is absolutely devastating. What is it? How has Joyce been leading to it for the whole story? By the way, if you are not moved almost to tears by the end of this story, then you either didn't get it, or you have no soul.