"The Dead" is the last and arguably the most important of the short stories in the collection of Dubliners by James Joyce. Born in Dublin himself, Joyce was an Irish poet and novelist, revered as one of the most influential modernist writers. Joyce's "The Dead" is one of the short stories in the aptly named "Dubliners" which is the collection of tales about the people of Dublin from various walks of life. It focuses on the people rather than the place, the people who are the inhabitants of the city.
"The Dead" on a superficial level is a simple story that can be encountered in normal life of the people. The majority of the story takes place at a Christmas party in the household of Julia and Kate Morkans. They are older women who seem to belong to upper class society but curiously who give piano lessons and consequently many of the guests are their pupils. They live with their niece Mary Jane and housekeeper Lily. The protagonist, Gabriel Conroy, Julia and Kate's nephew enters with his wife Gretta, who are welcomed by Lily. Gabriel tries to strike up a lighthearted conversation with Lily by asking if she still attended school to which she says no. Gabriel teases her that perhaps it is time for her to marry to which Lily seems offended and bitterly states that men are up to no good. Gabriel is flustered by this remark and hurriedly presents Lily with some money as a poor attempt to make amends for any offense. Trivial as it was, Gabriel is discomforted by this brief and awry exchange.
The party swings in full velocity abundant with great food, music and merrymaking. At certain intervals, Gabriel's mind wanders off into the future as he is supposed to give a speech later on. He is somewhat worried lest he might make a blunder as he did with Lily. During the dance, he is paired up with Miss Ivors with whom he gets into a little argument about his writing for "The Daily Mail" which is a publication that leaned towards English politics. He bursts that he is not particularly proud of his Irish heritage which incites a minor scene. During the merriment he observes that Ms. Ivors is leaving before the dinner. He wonders that he might have been the cause of her departing due to his outburst. He had been planning on passing a snide remark towards Ms. Ivors during his speech in the meantime.
The party continues with utmost fun, abundant chatting, music and dancing. Finally at dinner time, Gabriel carves up the goose and everybody feasts on variety of dishes. He delivers his speech entering on hte warmth of Irish hospitality embodied in his two aunts and cousin that night. The dinner ends on a high note making Gabriel feel triumphant. Moments before departing, Gabriel notices Gretta in a deeply melancholic state listening to a piece being sung by one of the guests called "The Lass of Aughrim". On the way home, with a triumphant feeling Gabriel is seized by instant passion towards Gretta. He thinks of his wife with immense lust and fantasizes various such scenarios in which he could sexualize his wife. Upon reaching their hotel, he waits for Gretta to understand his inner feelings and surrender herself to him. He suddenly notices that Gretta's mind is troubled. Upon inquiring, Gretta reveals that the song reminded of a boy she had been in love with in her teenage named Michael Furey. The boy fell ill and died with passion and love for Gretta when she left her home for Dublin.
This revolution startles Gabriel and he is tormented with feelings of jealousy and envy. After his wife sleeps, he is still awake and contemplating deepest of his feelings for the first time throughout the story. Certain part of him feels sorry for Michael Furey but is also jealous of the fact that he had died for love with fiery passion, a commendable cause. He visualizes his own aunt to be in the same state of helpless death and contemplates the very nature of life and death. He suddenly has an epiphany that he does not know his wife as he should have, he has not been in love as passionately as she has. This leads him to feel hollow and indignant with himself as he was too invested in superficial matters missing the true enjoyment of life.
"The Dead" by Joyce in no way directly tackles the subject of death. however, the concept acts as a satire and is present sub-textually throughout the story. Joyce also uses biblical allusions as the main protagonist is named Gabriel. Gabriel was an archangel who came on earth to foretell the birth of Jesus. The story is also set in a contentious period of Ireland as it was resisting against the British control. hence the question of one's heritage and identity is introduced subtly. The story has various instances of people remembering the past days through music and especially their deceased ancestors. For instance, Gabriel remembers his mother and how she disapproved of his wife. A whimsical and comical story of Gabriel's grandfather and his horse is related to the amusement of everybody. Finally the story ends with Gretta remembering her old love who had perished young.
At the very beginning of the story when Gabriel is introduced, Joyce masterfully inserts the phrase "three mortal hours" in the context that Gabriel complains about the time his wife takes to get ready. Gabriel seems to be a man awkward in his own country. When he tries to connect with Lily by jesting, he ends up offending her. To make matters worse he slips in some money to reconcile with shows his superficial nature. He further thinks about this incident which seems trivial at most and torments himself to analyze on where he slipped. Gabriel is also narcissistic in nature as he condescendingly thinks that people might not understand if he alluded to deep writers in his speech and would rather stick to the likes of Shakespeare. This clearly shows his superiority complex. He is again caught off guard by Miss Ivors who questions him about his politics. He lets slip that he is not proud of his Irish heritage and much more attracted to foreign cultures. When pressed to elucidate, he is dumb-founded and feels embarrassed. Ms. Ivors further invites him to spend some time in the Irish country to which he directly denies. Gabriel seems to be in an identity crisis, unable to connect with his own heritage and finding refuge in the bells and whistles of foreign culture.
Furthermore he coldly overlooks his wife's desire to visit the country. He fantasizes on getting back at Ms. Ivors with a snide remark during his speech. This shows his petty and vindictive nature. however Ms. Ivors leaves fore dinner and Gabriel cannot stop thinking that it was because of him. This further highlights his self importance, narcissism and selfishness. Despite the fun and merriment of the party, Gabriel's mind wanders off to various places as he is incessantly self-conscious seeking for other's approval and often overthinks simple situations. yet he is successful in giving his speech befitting the occasion even managing to move his aunts to tears. However it is clear to the reader that this is not a genuine person but a persona. All these elements add up in troubling Garbiel's mind and preventing him from fully enjoying the party. Hence in a sense he is not fully alive as he becomes slave to his own mind.
Similarly, when he is fantasizing after his supposedly triumphant speech, he views his wife not as an individual but a vessel to pour his lust. Something animalistic takes hold of him as he thinks of holding and caressing Gretta as if her sole purpose is to quench his thirst for lust. This notion is shattered when he comes to reality and realizes that he does not know his wife beyond superficiality. He deduces that it is better to have died young and passionate rather than linger up to old age and wither with no real purpose. In a sense Michael Furey is more alive and lived a fuller life than Gabriel who just merely exists.
Joyce uses various literary devices to ingrain the idea of death throughout the narrative. For instance, the name of the protagonist itself is an allusion to Bible. Characters constantly reminisce about dead people multiple times and in a way either living in the past or worrying about the future, hence they are distracted from life. The setting also contribute in the narrative as Ireland was in the midst of political turbulence as it was seeking freedom from British control. The debate on identity and heritage is symbolized by Gabriel's feeling of alienation from his own people as he childishly tries to assimilate himself in English culture by his use of 'Goloshes' - an over-boot worn in the rain. His inability to plaintively reply Ms. Ivor's question also presents his unstable opinions. This is crucial as it can be asserted that one's identity is connected to heritage and the disconnect symbolizes death of an identity.
The story concludes with Gabriel realizing that he has been living a dreary life and ironically the dead Michael Furey led a more fulfilled life although shorter. The story is primarily told through Gabriel's perspective using a third person limited narrator. The story follows a chronological order, however the main conflict is internal rather than external, which acts as a critique to materialistic and face lifestyle led by people to hold their reputation in society ignoring and suppressing inner passions and ultimately love.
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