Notes about The Dead by J. Joyce (21/3/12)

The Dead is a short story taken from J. Joyce's Dubliners. It is the last short story of the collection.
The main character is Gabriel Conroy, a man of letters, who is married to Gretta. Gretta come from Galway. The name of the protagonist recalls the name of the arcangel Gabriel who announced Mary she would be the mother of Jesus Christ. So the reader expects he will announce something, but in the novel he will not reveal anything, while Gretta will be the mean to cause epiphany.
Gabriel is not like other Dubliners of the collection: for example, he is different from Evelyn, the main character of the homonym novel, because unlike her he is also capable of his own choices, marrying Gretta without his mother's approvement (she considered Gretta as a country woman, with a low education, unlike Gabriel).
The character is defined by his actions, his thoughts, his behaviour and also by what other characters think about him. The reader knows Gabriel in the contest of the annual party, given by his aunts. The party represents rituality of Irish culture: it is given every year in the same period, the guests are always the same and also the moments of the party and the food are always the same. At the party there are Gabriel's aunts students of music (they are interested into listening and playing music and it is also their work), their family and family friends, so the party is a social event. Gabriel is considered and important figure, a point of reference: the guests expect he holds a speech, as every year he does, and he as also to cut the turkey.
The structure. The short story is composed of three parts. The first part is characterized by aunts and guests' waiting for Gabriel and his arrival. From it the reader understands he is an important figure. When Gabriel arrives he makes a mistake: he meets Lily and he asks her about her boyfriend, but she does not feel at ease because she has been deluded by a man. Gabriel is ashame and it makes the reader understand he is not very good in communication. Moreover the reader discovers he likes to be trendy and modern because he wears galoscies, that are a mode in Europe. He is angry because his wife does not obey him wearing galoscies, so it is possible to understand something more about Gretta's character: she is an unusual woman and not conventional wife for the period because she is not subjected to her husband. She is very different from Gabriel: he is terribly in love with her, so he accepts her behaviour.
In this part there are also many interesting aspects of Irish society: the reader discovers that men and women do not put their coats in the same wardrobe, but women put them upstairs.
This part is characterized by two settings. The first one is outside, where it is snowing and it is cold. The second one is an inner setting, in the house: there is a very happy atmosphere, it is warm, there is music...
The second part is the party. People go there because they are slaves of their habits. In this part there is an important conversation between Miss Ivors, a nationalist, and Gabriel. It is not easy because she criticizes Gabriel's ideas about Ireland. He would like to travel and he considers his country as a soffocating reality. This conversation is important because it is a narrative pretext to show Irish political situation and the history of the country.
In the novel there is also the theme of religion: the dinner may be connected to the Last Supper, which is a religious event when man is purified. The priest is Gabriel, who holds a speech, but it is not something spontaneous but it is prepared. He would like to explain some quotations from R. Browning's poetry, but he changes his ideas because he considers people at the party not able to understand them (Gabriel is haughty here).