Review: The Dead

Title: The Dead

Author: James Joyce

Genre: Classic literature

Publication date: 1914
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Novella: 92 pages

"The Dead" takes place at a party to celebrate the Feast of Epiphany. The protagonist is Gabriel Conroy, and the reader learns about him through his behavior at the party and his interaction with the other guests. From an uncomfortable exchange with the housemaid, to a conversation in which his wife and aunts mock him about wearing galoshes, to an interaction with a woman who questions his patriotism, the reader discovers that Gabriel does not relate well to others and that he is an emotionally restrained person.

When the party is about to end, he observes his wife, Gretta, standing at the top of the stairs, listening to one of the guests sing a song. "The voice, made plaintive by distance and by the singer's hoarseness, faintly illuminated the cadence of the air with words expressing grief."

Later, after Gabriel and Gretta have arrived home, he asks her about the song, and she tells him she first heard the song sung by a boy she loved, Michael Furey, who chose to die for her. She becomes emotional during the telling of the tale, and Gabriel is uncertain how to deal with the situation.

Gretta falls asleep, and Gabriel lies awake ruminating that he has never felt for his wife the same romance and passion that Michael did.  

Joyce's writing in this novella is simple without being simplistic. The imagery is vivid and the characterization is strong. He lays a solid foundation for the climax of the story, when Gabriel has an epiphany that his reserved nature has prevented him from fully experiencing life. 

"The Dead" is an easy and enjoyable read but also presents a question for the reader to ponder: are you like Gabriel, or are you like Thoreau, who said, "I wished to live deliberately and not, when I came to die, to discover that I had not lived."

RATING

The full text of "The Dead" can be read online HERE.