The Dead is the final story of a series of novel written by James Joice (Dubliners)

Characters

·         Kate Morkan and Julia Morkan: two old ladies of the middle class

·         Mary Jane Morkan: Kate and Julia Morkan’s niece

·         Gabriel Conroy: Kate and Julia Morkan’s nephew

·         Gretta Conroy: Gabriel’s wife

·         Mr. Browne: guest of the party

·         Freddy Malins: a Gabriel’s friend

·         Bartell D'Arcy: a famous tenor

·         Lily: caretaker’s daughter

James Joyce's The Dead seems to be a story about the annual Christmas party organized by Kate and Julia Morkan, two sisters, and their niece, Mary Jane. It goes into detail about some of the guests and it describes the evening they had, including singing and dancing. But if you examine the story more carefully, it appears that there is something else respect what it seems to be. The Dead is a story about lost loves and the incapacity to forget the beloved.  The story of The Dead regards Gabriel (Kate and Julia’s nephew) and Gretta Conroy. At the beginning of the party, Gabriel and Gretta seem a very happy couple: Gabriel loves Gretta very much and his love emerges when he rents a hotel room for them after the end of the party because he is worried about Gretta’s conditions of health (the travel to arrive home is difficult cause the extreme cold weather). When the party concludes, Gabriel thinks about a romantic night with his wife. While he prepares to leave, he noticed her interest in the song that Mr. D'Arcy was singing in the adjacent room. The song, The Lass of Aughrim, caused a change of behavior in Gretta. Gabriel notes this change, but he isn't able to understand what is the problem. So he pressures her wife to tell him what is the thing that disturbs her mind. She reveals that the song reminded to Michael Furey, a boy  of her past. He was Gretta's first love, and he died for her when he was seventeen years old. Subsequently Gabriel declares that although people have sad memories of the past, they must go over them and live for the future. Gretta's reaction to her memories of Michael proves that Gabriel was in mistake. So Gabriel realizes that you can never forget lost loves. Gabriel also realizes that he doesn't know his wife totally, even if he is married with her from years and he never hearing the story of Michael Furey before. He has been egocentric and he put at the centre of the attention only his  life. This behavior can be seen in the beginning of the story, when Gabriel upsets Lily with his question about an upcoming marriage. In the years that he has been with Gretta, Gabriel never even thought to ask her about any past loves. Then he seems surprised to find out she had been involved with a boy before meeting him. Gabriel should take other people into account and not just focus on himself. He now realizes this-but it took the dead Michael Furey to teach him this lesson. If one thing is to be realized from this short story, it should be that love is hard to come by. When two people are truly, madly, and deeply in love, they must embrace it while they still have the opportunity. If the opportunity passed, it might be lost forever. And even if a replacement is found, the first true love will never be forgotten.