THE DEAD

“The Dead” is a short story written by James Joyce. It belongs to the collection of “Dubliners”.

This short story is about Miss Kate and Miss Julia’s party. As we shall see this will be a party that masks the death and displacement of the Dubliners.

The episode is divided in three macro-sequences: the arrival of the guests, the dinner and at the hotel. Sequence changes are signaled by: a time marker, a change of place, the introduction of a new character and a change in narrative mode. The narrator is third person intrusting omniscient, he uses the narrative technique of showing to intruded a new character.

The first part sets the mood of all evening: there is an atmosphere of expectation. Indeed, all guests expect Gabriel Conroy who arrived with his wife Gretta. At the beginning they appear to be a very happy couple. When they arrive, Mr Conroy talks to Lily who is a servant in the house, he asks her if she is going to be married (she was finished to go to school) but Lily has a negative opinion about man. Gabriel feels guilty and offers her some money but she fells offended. The party follows singing, dancing and talking and in these context the background characters create the atmosphere of all evening. People in Dublin suffer they don’t have a reference point but have only problems for example one particular character represent perfectly Irish’s society: the old drunk man. An other example is that Gabriel wants to spend the holidays away from Ireland. All guests talk about Ireland and all them do the same things. Very important is to notice that they are all interested in music: it is the decisive event of the story. In fact the party takes place in the middle of the music. There are two moments where the music is relevant: one when Kate sings the song which sounds like an anticipation of her death and the other when Gabriel sees his wife listening to the “Lass of Aughrim” in the third sequence.

The second part of the short story is the dinner. It is a symbolic image of community. The dinner shows the hospitality and the tradition of Irish culture. This moment of the party is anticipated by Gabriel’s speech who thanks the old Aunts for the hospitality and he declares that although people may have sad memories from the past and you must get over them and live for today and for the future.

Following the dinner Gabriel and Gretta prepares to return at the hotel but while they were preparing Gretta hears a music “the lass of Aughrim” and from that moment begins her epiphany which is fully explored when she returns to the hotel. She stays immobile and so Gabriel can see her upstairs and from that moment begins his epiphany. Gabriel sees his wife as a woman unknown to him and this provokes strong emotions in him: he grew into the desire to possess just arrived at the hotel. once you get comfy and the room Gabriel is certain that his wife is in another world and in fact she is thinking of days gone by, those spent with Michael. a boy who died at 17 years for the sake of narrow-minded.