The Dead (short story)
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The Dead is the final short story in the 1914 collection Dubliners by James Joyce. It is the longest story in the collection and widely considered to be one of the greatest short stories in the English language. At 15,672 words it has also been considered a novella.
It was made into a movie in 1987, directed by John Huston, and into a musical in 1999, with music by Shaun Davey and starring Christopher Walken in the original production.
[edit] Characters
- Kate Morkan and Julia Morkan - Sisters who throw a party during Christmas time.
- Lily - Maid, insulted by Gabriel Conroy when he asks about her love life.
- Gabriel Conroy - The main character of the story.
- Gretta Conroy - Gabriel's wife.
- Molly Ivors - Colleague, very patriotic about Ireland.
- Michael Furey - Gretta's first childhood love.
- Freddy Malins - A drunk and friend of Gabriel.
- Bartell D'Arcy - A famous tenor.
- Patrick Fogarty
Gabriel Conroy, Father Constantine Conroy, Gretta Conroy, Kate and Julia Morkan, and Bartell d'Arcy are all alluded to in James Joyce's later work, Ulysses, though no character from "The Dead" makes a direct appearance in the novel.
[edit] Synopsis
The story centers on Gabriel Conroy on the night of the Morkan sisters' annual dance and dinner in the first week of January, 1904, perhaps the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6) [1]. Typical of the stories in Dubliners, The Dead develops toward a moment of painful self-awareness, what Joyce described as an epiphany. The narrative generally concentrates on Gabriel's insecurities, his social awkwardness, and the defensive way he copes with his discomfort. The story culminates at the point when Gabriel discovers that, through years of marriage, there was much he never knew of his wife's past.
Upon arriving at the party with his wife, Gabriel makes an unfunny joke about the maid's marriage prospects, after which he fidgets, adjusts his clothing, and offers her money as a holiday present. Not long after that, he gets flustered again when his wife pokes fun at him over a conversation they had earlier, in which he had suggested she buy a pair of galoshes for the bad weather. With such episodes, Gabriel is depicted as particularly pathetic. Similarly, Gabriel is unsure about quoting a poem from the poet Browning when he is giving his dinner address, as he is afraid to been seen as pretentious.
Later in the evening, when giving the traditional holiday toast/speech in front of the guests, Gabriel overcompensates for some of his earlier statements to his evening dancing partner, an Irish nationalist. His talk relies heavily on conventions, and he praises the virtues of the Irish people and idealizes the past in a way that feels contrived and disingenuous (especially considering what the past will mean to him once he hears his wife's story).
When preparing to leave the party, Gabriel sees his wife, Gretta, on the stairs, absorbed in thought. He stares at her for a moment, not recognizing her. Once he recognizes her, he imagines her as a painting called "Distant Music." Her distracted, wistful mood arouses sexual interest in him, and when he tries indirectly to confront her about it after the party in the hotel room he had engaged for them, he finds her unresponsive. Trying to make ironic, half-suggestive comments to his wife, Gabriel learns that she was feeling nostalgic after having heard Mr. D'Arcy singing The Lass of Aughrim at the party.
Upon being pressed further with his ironic line of questions, Gretta tells Gabriel that the song had reminded her of the time when she was a young girl in the town of Oughterard in Galway, when she had been in love with a young boy named Michael Furey. At the time, Gretta was being kept at her grandmother's home before being sent off to a convent in Dublin. Michael was terribly sick, was ordered to remain bedridden and was unable to see her. Despite being sick, when it came time for her to leave Galway, Michael came to Gretta's window, and although he got to speak with her, he ended up dying within the week.
The remainder of the text delves into Gabriel's thoughts after he hears this story, exploring his shifting views on himself, his wife, the past, on the living and the dead. In the film version of the story, this is the only voice-over narration present in the work, which delves heavily into Gabriel's thoughts. It is ambiguous whether the epiphany is just an artistic and emotional moment or whether Gabriel will ever manage to escape his smallness and insecurity.
A haunting tale, The Dead is today regarded as one of the top short stories in the English language.
[edit] External links
- Text of story
- Annotated hypertext version of story
- SparkNotes on story
- New York Times musical review
| James Joyce's Dubliners |
|---|
| The Sisters | An Encounter | Araby | Eveline | After the Race | Two Gallants | The Boarding House | A Little Cloud | Counterparts | Clay | A Painful Case | Ivy Day in the Committee Room | A Mother | Grace | The Dead |
