Examples Of Imagery In The Dead By James Joyce
In the short story, ‘The Dead’, James Joyce illustrates the character Gabriel by masterfully using poetic devices such as imagery and tone. However, the reader slowly discovers that they’re not the only ones finding out the truth about Gabriel’s personality, as Gabriel himself is unearthing who he really is. Imagery, one of the best devices in James Joyce’s toolbelt, is used beautifully to give hints to the reader of the thoughts that run through Gabriel’s head consistently.
A good example of this is in line 14-15, when Gabriel notices his wife’s unkempt clothing. One of her petticoat strings is left dangling, but of course, there’s more to this than meets the eye. This could mean that their marriage is left hanging, just waiting for someone
to fix it, or perhaps that there’s no order to it. Another example is also in line 15, when Gabriel observes the two boots, one laying on its side, and it’s brother standing upright. This could refer to Gabriel and his wife, since she’s sleeping at this point of the story. Lastly, a fantastic example of imagery would be in line 24, “The blinds would be drawn down…”.These blinds are more than simple blinds, as these refer to death, and how when a play ends, the curtains close. Is this the end of Julia? Maybe, but it isn’t the end of James Joyce’s wonderful device usage. The tone in ‘The Dead’ is one of despair, death, and derange, which James plays on like an expert. This is present even in the title, all the way to the final line. A good example is in line 10, where he admits that a strange friendly pity entered his soul, after realizing that she was not the same girl that she was before. This is a gloomy tone, really making you feel bad for the wife. Another good example is in line 20, when slowly discovering that Aunt Julia would soon die. Calling her a shade hints at the tone here.
Finally, in line 27, Gabriel talks about how Aunt Kate would be sobbing, and he’d try to make her feel better, but the only words he’d find would be “lame and useless ones”. Although this might be true, this tells us the tone, which is a careless one, since he seems to not care about the reason she is crying. When it comes to poetic devices, James Joyce does not pull any punches, and this is shown throughout the entire short story, ‘The Dead’. He creates a masterpiece using imagery and tone, all while maintaining a story that keeps the reader attracted and wanting to read more.
A good example of this is in line 14-15, when Gabriel notices his wife’s unkempt clothing. One of her petticoat strings is left dangling, but of course, there’s more to this than meets the eye. This could mean that their marriage is left hanging, just waiting for someone
to fix it, or perhaps that there’s no order to it. Another example is also in line 15, when Gabriel observes the two boots, one laying on its side, and it’s brother standing upright. This could refer to Gabriel and his wife, since she’s sleeping at this point of the story. Lastly, a fantastic example of imagery would be in line 24, “The blinds would be drawn down…”.These blinds are more than simple blinds, as these refer to death, and how when a play ends, the curtains close. Is this the end of Julia? Maybe, but it isn’t the end of James Joyce’s wonderful device usage. The tone in ‘The Dead’ is one of despair, death, and derange, which James plays on like an expert. This is present even in the title, all the way to the final line. A good example is in line 10, where he admits that a strange friendly pity entered his soul, after realizing that she was not the same girl that she was before. This is a gloomy tone, really making you feel bad for the wife. Another good example is in line 20, when slowly discovering that Aunt Julia would soon die. Calling her a shade hints at the tone here.
Finally, in line 27, Gabriel talks about how Aunt Kate would be sobbing, and he’d try to make her feel better, but the only words he’d find would be “lame and useless ones”. Although this might be true, this tells us the tone, which is a careless one, since he seems to not care about the reason she is crying. When it comes to poetic devices, James Joyce does not pull any punches, and this is shown throughout the entire short story, ‘The Dead’. He creates a masterpiece using imagery and tone, all while maintaining a story that keeps the reader attracted and wanting to read more.