Joyce's ‘the dead’: A ‘life-in-death’ paradox

James Joyce's ‘The Dead’ is the greatest of all the stories in Dubliners-the longest, richest, and most emotionally challenging. The story of Gabriel Conroy and Gretta reinforces the great themes of Dubliners. At the same time, taking into account the time gap and the significant changes that occurred in the life of Joyce, ‘The Dead’ could be read as a story different from the one that of Dubliners. The story in ‘The Dead’ dealt mainly with three generations of his family in Dublin. It brings into play an incident in Galway, and his stay in Rome shaped his perceptions in ‘The Dead’. Rome, the equally Catholic city, gave a sense of the successful incursion of the dead upon the living in his haunting thoughts. ‘The Dead’ could be conveniently divided into two parts: the party at which Gabriel Conroy delivers his speech and the conclusion when Gabriel senses his connections with the living and the dead. Gabriel, the principal character of the story, is the center of attention for several reasons: He is his aunts’ favourite nephew and he is the only one who can control Freddy Malins, the young man regularly caused the Morkan sisters’ concern because of his excessive drinking. Though he has been assigned to deliver a speech to all the guests who arrive at. Iulia Morkan's house at the Chirstmas party, in fact, no one ever mentions exactly what it is they are there to celebrate (Ellmann 247).