The Dead By James Joyce
James Joyce – The Dead.
James Joyce’s ‘The Dead’ written in 1914, is a short story, centering on protagonist Gabriel Conroy and his journey of development of the self. In this essay I will discuss three separate techniques used by Joyce, their effect on the reader and the meaning they provide to the story as a whole.
The language choice used by Joyce in this particular passage is crucial in depicting the complex relationship between Gabriel and wife, Gretta.
It appears that Gabriel attempts to idealize Gretta in order to convince himself their life is more idyllic than is truly the case. The use of the word ‘gazing’ (1) is symbolic of this as it infers Gabriel is infatuated by Gretta, staring at her with wonder. The fact that Gabriel is staring …show more content…
Joyce writes how Gabriel ‘strained his ear to listen’ highlighting Gabriel’s effort to be near his wife in everything that she does. The fact that he could ‘hear little’ serves to symbolize his desperation, as well as the physical and emotional distance between them. This device foreshadows Gabriel’s epiphany, as he realizes how detached he actually is to the life he thought he had and how nothing is what it initially …show more content…
A third person omniscient narrator tells the story, with the absence of authorial intrusion. This places an emphasis on the readers to form opinions, perhaps important as throughout this passage Gabriel’s reliability as a narrator may be challenged. Gabriel is not a character who can empathize well with others, which we witness from his earlier encounter with Lily when he feels ‘discomposed by the girls bitter and sudden retort’.(3) Gabriel feels uncomfortable with the way Lily has acted regardless of the fact that it was his own ignorance, which initially irritated her. Joyce is highlighting how as a narrator, he may be unreliable because he is a biased character, so if he were to directly force an opinion on the readers, we would not have a perspective of the world outside of Gabriel’s mind.
Use of a question in this passage is extremely symbolic of modernist writing where the spiritual is contained within the everyday. This reveals the core of the story, the search for self. Gabriel questions what his wife is symbolic of: ‘He asked himself what was a woman standing on the stairs in the shadow, listening to distant music a symbol of?’ Within this question, Gabriel is addressing all of the issues that have arisen throughout the passage. The way he questions the meaning of the
James Joyce’s ‘The Dead’ written in 1914, is a short story, centering on protagonist Gabriel Conroy and his journey of development of the self. In this essay I will discuss three separate techniques used by Joyce, their effect on the reader and the meaning they provide to the story as a whole.
The language choice used by Joyce in this particular passage is crucial in depicting the complex relationship between Gabriel and wife, Gretta.
It appears that Gabriel attempts to idealize Gretta in order to convince himself their life is more idyllic than is truly the case. The use of the word ‘gazing’ (1) is symbolic of this as it infers Gabriel is infatuated by Gretta, staring at her with wonder. The fact that Gabriel is staring …show more content…
Joyce writes how Gabriel ‘strained his ear to listen’ highlighting Gabriel’s effort to be near his wife in everything that she does. The fact that he could ‘hear little’ serves to symbolize his desperation, as well as the physical and emotional distance between them. This device foreshadows Gabriel’s epiphany, as he realizes how detached he actually is to the life he thought he had and how nothing is what it initially …show more content…
A third person omniscient narrator tells the story, with the absence of authorial intrusion. This places an emphasis on the readers to form opinions, perhaps important as throughout this passage Gabriel’s reliability as a narrator may be challenged. Gabriel is not a character who can empathize well with others, which we witness from his earlier encounter with Lily when he feels ‘discomposed by the girls bitter and sudden retort’.(3) Gabriel feels uncomfortable with the way Lily has acted regardless of the fact that it was his own ignorance, which initially irritated her. Joyce is highlighting how as a narrator, he may be unreliable because he is a biased character, so if he were to directly force an opinion on the readers, we would not have a perspective of the world outside of Gabriel’s mind.
Use of a question in this passage is extremely symbolic of modernist writing where the spiritual is contained within the everyday. This reveals the core of the story, the search for self. Gabriel questions what his wife is symbolic of: ‘He asked himself what was a woman standing on the stairs in the shadow, listening to distant music a symbol of?’ Within this question, Gabriel is addressing all of the issues that have arisen throughout the passage. The way he questions the meaning of the