The Dead is a short story by James Joyce. It belongs to Dubliners, a collection of short stories. The Dead is the last short story in the collection. In The Dead the main character is Gabriel Conroy, a man of letters, married to Gretta, a woman from Galway. The name Gabriel is linked to the archangel who announced Mary she would have gave birth to Jesus Christ. Gabriel is expected to give an announcement, but he doesn't. It seems that the revelation that the reader thinks Gabriel will say is turned upside down as Gretta does it.
Gabriel is an Irish married to Gretta. His family wasn't happy that he would marry her, as she was considered a woman from the country. This reveals that Conroy is able to take choices autonomously, not like Evelyne, but at the same time is unable of doing something else.
We know Gabriel inside the context of a party. The story develops from the beginning to the end in the annual party he attends. The party is organized by her aunts, who are interested in listening and playing music. The party is also attended by others, it's a social event. So, Gabriel is well known and he's considered an important figure. Furthermore, they expect him to have a speech.
The short story can be divided in three parts. In the 1st one people is waiting for Gabriel, representing the expectations of the people there, but also of the text. He makes a mistake right at the beginning. He meets Lily, the servant, and he asks her if she has finished school and than asks if she's got a boyfriend. She doesn't feel at ease, as probably she's been deluded by man. Lily, as Evelyne has the only way to escape in marriage. When Gabriel arrives, outside it's snowing. The snow represents both purity and the paralysis of Irish society. Therefore, by outing the clothes in different places it's outlined the difference in the Irish society between men and women.
Gabriel wears galoshes to protect from the snow. He likes to be trendy and he's very angry because his wife didn't put them. She disobeys him, not a usual thing in that society. The reader understands that Gabriel's wife may be different from the conventional wife, which usually obeys. Gretta is very different from Gabriel and she's not a subdue woman. Also, Gabriel is terribly in love with her, much more involved than her, and he accepts an action that is usually not accepted. Therefore, when she goes upstairs she laughs over his protectiveness. Gretta creates problem from the beginning as she doesn't conform. There are two settings , an external one, where is cold on there's snow, and an inner one, where there's warm, with a happy atmosphere created by music.
The annual party is according to conventions and rituals, representing the paralysis of Dublin where there are no changes but always the same events.
The 2nd sequence is the party. During the dance people have a conversation. The most important conversation is between Gabriel and Miss Ivors, a relevant character by her thoughts. They don't agree about Gabriel vision on Ireland, which is linked to the snow. He wants to travel out from Ireland and he sees over the windows to the snow and makes him desire to escape the paralysis. Miss Ivors is a nationalist, The conversation is a narrative pretext to make the reader understand the divide at the time between unionists and nationalists. The religion theme is one of the themes, developed after the dance in the dinner, reminding the Last Supper. The priest may be played by Gabriel Conroy. His bigger preoccupation is his speech. He wants to exploit some quotations from Robert Browning, but he changes his idea because he considers the people at the dinner unable to follow his well-read possession of culture.