“The Dead”  is the longest story of “Dubliners”  by James Joyce,

Just reading the title you can understand that the story  is about death.

This story is set winter precisely  during the period of Christmas. The main character of the story is Gabriel Conroy  who goes to a party in Dublin. Gabriel is the representatives of all failed Dubliners.

The antagonist of Gabriel is Michael,  who died many years earlier.

The main topic of the story is a cultural and human paralysis and Gabriel is the symbol of mortality and isolation.

An important element of the story is the epiphany  which is an unexpected revelation, in this case from Gretta,  Gabriel’s wife thanks to which the man becomes aware of his existence,

Indeed Gabriel  after his wife's confession about her old lover ( Michael Furry  who died for her) he understands that he is only a shadow in his wife's life.

At first after the confession,  Gabriel feels himself becoming die the deceased  and the snow becomes the metaphor for isolation and inability to know others. Therefore the snow  is the symbol for the death dad comes indiscriminately.

Secondly Gabriel  be aware of all the people like him where happy and unconscious at the party are going towards death.

At the end of the story you can understand between lines that the title “The Dead”  is not referred to physical death ( Michael's death) but the interior death of those who are still alive. Indeed between dead and alive  there is no more difference.

The narrator of the story is omniscient and external and he uses the narrative technique of telling to show the character’s point of view.