Notes of the 21st of March

Title, structure, characters, setting: it’s the order to follow in writing the analysis of text.

The dead is a short story by J. Joyce and belongs to Dubliners, a collection of short stories.  

About Gretta we can say she comes from Galway. Gabriel is the name of a archangel, who announced the birth of Jesus Christ. Gabriel is a man of letter; he’s an Irish man and he’s married with Gretta. Gabriel’s mother was not happy when he married Gretta, because the girl wasn’t of the same social level, she didn’t belong to a good family. Gabriel decided to marry her without the approval of her mother. In this case he’s different from Evelyne, he’s not so paralyzed and more independent.

The dead is the last story of the collection and it’s also the longest. There’s much awareness of the main character on his condition. He has a very important role in the society, indeed he has to hold a speech. Anyway he makes a mistake since the beginning, asking Lily if he has finished the school and if she’s got a boyfriend.

Other hints about the character can come from his way of dressing: Gabriel wears galoshes to protect the shoes from the snow. This means he’s trendy.

From the first part of the story the reader understand Gretta is not subjugated to her husband and that Gabriel is much more involved than she is. Gabriel is very protective with her.

About the setting in the initial part we can notice there’s an initial contrast about outside and inside: outside is very cold (it’s snowing) and inside is warm and and happy atmosphere.

In the initial part of the story Joyce creates a pretext to give sense to the tale.

Gabriel is ambiguous and Gretta creates problem since the beginning because she doesn’t conform.

In the second part of the story is described the party. There’s a dance.

Miss. Ivors is characterized through the conversation with Gabriel: she is a nationalist.

The dinner can be connected to the Last Supper, so it can be religious meaning. Gabriel’s intention is to quote Browny.