The Dead

                James Joyce’s The Dead opens by describing an annual party at the Morkans’ house; Aunt Kate, Aunt Julia, and Mary Jane are the women who host and set up the party, which has never been afflicted with bad fortune.  The guests Gabriel and Freddy are being watched for, Gabriel because of his celebratory stature within the household, and Freddy because of his constant drunkenness.  When Gabriel arrives he makes an improper comment towards one of the maidens there, and we watch him ruminate on what he could have said and his upcoming dinner speech.  Through his thoughts we find out that Gabriel is insecure, but at the same time considers himself superior to the others in the house.  We travel throughout the party, learning of the rift between old and new, Catholicism and Protestantism that currently afflicting Ireland.  This comes to a head during square dancing when Gabriel is confronted by Miss Ivors about his writing for a Unionist newspaper and she taunts him throughout the party.  As the feast starts Mr. D’Arcy and Mr. Browne discuss old and new opera, which segues into a larger discussion about old and new things in Dublin.  Gabriel gives his speech at the end of dinner, speaking about the passing generation’s humanity and hospitality versus the new generation’s extreme emphasis on education and learning and laments that the new generation may forget the old generation’s characteristics.  This highlights the recurring theme of modernism in the story.  As the party ends and the guests return to their lodgings, Gabriel notices his wife at the top of the stairs listening to an old Irish song and is mesmerized by her; after they hop out of a cab, he begins to lust after her.  He has noticed something is wrong since she has heard the song, and plans to use his concern for her as a way to get her into bed.  She rebuffs him once, and he becomes angry, angry enough that rape is hinted at; however, he asks her what the problem is.  She replies that the song has reminded her of her lover in youth, a boy who died because he could not live with her.  The story ends with Gabriel musing on his own insecurities, the extent of true love, and the snow covering both living and dead right now.