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Symbolism And Imagery In The Dead By James Joyce

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Symbolism And Imagery In The Dead By James Joyce
In the short story “The Dead” by James Joyce, the main protagonist, Gabriel, reminisces on life. Joyce uses symbolism and imagery to describe death in Gabriel’s life.
Death is a major theme in the excerpt; as shown in the line, “Pleasure of the walk along the river in the snow.” However, that same sentence also uses several literary devices such as Imagery. James Joyce paints a picture of the funeral and makes us feel what Gabriel feels, we see what Gabriel sees. The words fly off the page and into our vivid imagination. We understand and feel everything Gabriel experiences while he’s in the room with the woman. “One boot stood upright, its limp” these words are all we need to know about the mood in the room. Finally going back to the funeral,
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