The first part of story presents the time and space contextualization. It's the evening, it's snowing and the scene takes place into a private house party. The beginning points out the main characters at the party and the awaiting of Gabriel and his wife. When Gabriel and his wife arrived to the party the description focus the attention on what happens at the party: many people dance, other sing, someone plays the piano and someone talks. At the end of the party Gabriel and Gretta went out to take the coach to the hotel. But when Gretta heard a song she felt an epiphany: she reminded her boyfriend when she was adolescent. Confused by her epiphany, Gretta fells into a deep reflection. Gabriel, he who would pass the night with his wife, decided that Gretta was not ready to pass a night of passion. When the couple arrived to the hotel the distance between two characters increases: Gretta lied on the bed and Gabriel, watching out of the window the snow falling, thought to all alive and dead people like Michael Furrey, Gretta's dead adolescent boyfriend.

Main characters are Gretta and her husband Gabriel. Secondary characters are Mr and Mrs Conroy, Miss Kate and Miss Julia. There are a lot of other characters, but their importance is not relevant to understand the sense of the story.

Joyce adopts three main narrative techniques: the interior monologue, the flashback and dialogues. The interior monologue by Gretta (during her epiphany) has the function to direct reader's attention to Gretta's inner side. Flashbacks (through the whole text but most of them appear at the end, when Gretta reminds her past) are large used to add with some pieces of information the text. Reader knows characters' past thanks to flashbacks. Last but not least technique is the use of dialogues, by which reader learn more about characters: in particular, the characterization of each character has got a relevant influence from what other characters think of him/her.
The language appears simple, medium register / popular. The use of dialogues fulfill the text of popular tones and expressions (for instance Quadrilla! is something screamed between the confusion of the crowd).

Gretta's epiphany creates a connection between present and past. Gretta's reflection is activated by a song. The song activates her reflection through her past, when she was adolescent and she was in love with Michael Furrey. Michael Furrey was a young boy ill of thisys. One day he tried to reach Gretta out of his town, but it was cold and raining, so he died. Gretta reminds him and his death, for her. The present's snow reminds the past's rain. The epiphany moment leaves in Gretta a long reflection (during the travel from party house to hotel) and she appears different from party's Gretta. The snow represents the rain, a situation not comfortable for human being. As Michael Furrey dies under the rain, Gabriel reflects on the meaning of life and he focus his mind on all other dead people (such as Michael Furrey) and alive people (such as himself). An other symbol is the bed and the window. The bed represents the place of sleep and peace instead the window allows us to see outside the wall. The bed is a place of reflection as the window because both of them opens a reality (abstract as the dream or real as reality). Indeed, Gretta (victim of her epiphany) lies on the bed reflecting on her past, instead Gabriel stands up in front of the window asking himself questions without answers.