The Dead
by James Joyce
'The Dead' Summary
The story centres on Gabriel Conroy, a teacher and part-time book reviewer, and explores the relationships he has with his family and friends. Gabriel and his wife, Gretta, arrive late to an annual Christmas party hosted by his aunts, Kate and Julia Morkan, who eagerly receive him. After a somewhat awkward encounter with Lily, the caretaker's daughter, Gabriel goes upstairs and joins the rest of the party attendees. Gabriel worries about the speech he has to give, especially because it contains academic references that he fears his audience will not understand. When Freddy Malins arrives drunk, as the hosts of the party had feared, Aunt Kate asks Gabriel to make sure he is all right.
As the party moves on, Gabriel is confronted by Miss Ivors, an Irish nationalist, about his publishing a weekly literary column in the Unionist newspaper The Daily Express. She teases him as a "West Briton", that is, a supporter of English political control of Ireland. Gabriel recalls that he gets 15 shillings a week and "the books he received for review were almost more welcome than the paltry cheque". He thinks this charge is highly unfair, but fails to offer a satisfactory rejoinder. The encounter ends awkwardly, which bothers Gabriel the rest of the night. He becomes more disaffected when he tells his wife of the encounter and she expresses an interest in returning to visit her childhood home of Galway. The music and party continues, but Gabriel retreats into himself, thinking of the snow outside and his impending speech.
Dinner begins, with Gabriel seated at the head of the table. The guests discuss music and the practices of certain monks. Once the dining has died down, Gabriel thinks once more about the snow and begins his speech, praising traditional Irish hospitality, observing that "we are living in a sceptical...thought-tormented age," and referring to Aunt Kate, Aunt Julia and Mary Jane as the Three Graces. The speech ends with a toast, and the guests sing "For they are jolly gay fellows."
The party was winding down, and as the guests filter out and Gabriel prepares to leave, he finds his wife standing, apparently lost in thought, at the top of the stairs. From another room, Bartell D'Arcy singing "The Lass of Aughrim" can be heard. The Conroys leave and Gabriel is excited, for it has been a long time since he and Gretta have had a night in a hotel to themselves. When they arrived at the hotel, Gabriel's aspirations of passionate lovemaking are conclusively dashed by Gretta's lack of interest. He presses her about what is bothering her, and she admits that she is "thinking about that song, The Lass of Aughrim." She admits that it reminds her of someone, a young man named Michael Furey, who had courted her in her youth in Galway. He used to sing The Lass of Aughrim for her. Furey died at seventeen, early in their relationship, and she had been very much in love with him. She believes that it was his insistence on coming to meet her in the winter and the rain, while already sick, that killed him. After telling these things to Gabriel, Gretta falls asleep. At first, Gabriel is shocked and dismayed that there was something of such significance in his wife's life that he never knew about. He ponders the role of the countless dead in living people's lives, and observes that everyone he knows, himself included, will one day only be a memory. He finds in this fact a profound affirmation of life. Gabriel stands at the window, watching the snow fall, and the narrative expands past him, edging into the surreal and encompassing the entirety of Ireland. As the story ends, we are told that "His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead."
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1914Author
James Joyce
Ireland
The work and life of Joyce is celebrated annually on 16 June, known as Bloomsday, in Dublin and in an increasing number of cities worldwide, and critical studies in scholarly publications, such as the...
More on James JoyceDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
Related books
Eve's Diary by Mark Twain
"Eve's Diary" is a comic short story by Mark Twain. It was first published in the 1905 Christmas issue of the magazine Harper's Bazaar, in book format...
The Exemplary Novels of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Originally compiled by Cervantes himself in 1613 as a collection of "exemplary" stories, this translated version from 1881 brings these stories to the...
Collaboration by Henry James
It is Paris sometime after the Franco-Prussian War. A French poet and a German composer come to admire one another's work and decide to collaborate on...
Kashtanka by Anton Chekhov
The story follows the life of a small, scrappy dog named Kashtanka, who is owned by a young girl named Lidochka. Kashtanka is a loyal and devoted comp...
Further Chronicles of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Further Chronicles of Avonlea is a collection of short stories by L. M. Montgomery and is a sequel to Chronicles of Avonlea. Published in 1920, it inc...
The Crocodile by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
"The Crocodile" is a short story by Fyodor Dostoyevsky that was first published in 1865 in his magazine Epoch.
Kaleri-orja by Heinrich Zschokke
Set in 17th-century France, "Kaleri-orja" is a touching and evocative novella that tells the tragic tale of Leonardo, a young man whose life is irrevo...
In a German Pension by Katherine Mansfield
It is a captivating collection of short stories that provides a glimpse into the lives of various characters residing in a German boarding house. Writ...
Stories Weird and Wonderful by Joyce Emmerson Muddock
Step into a realm where the extraordinary meets the everyday in "Stories Weird and Wonderful" by Joyce Emmerson Muddock. From the very first page, you...
Three Midnight Stories by Alexander Wilson Drake
Embark on a Journey of Mysterious Tales in "Three Midnight Stories" by Alexander W. Drake Are you ready to step into a world where darkness and enigma...
Reviews for The Dead
No reviews posted or approved, yet...