Synopsis, Analysis, Commentary and Philosophical Implications the Dead Essay Example

throughout the collection. Each story showcases a main character who experiences an epiphany, a moment of self-realization or enlightenment that brings new significance to their existence. The book culminates with "The Dead," the lengthiest story in the collection, which follows a circular format. It commences with a funeral in the first story and concludes with reflection on death in the final tale.

The central plot focuses on Gabriel, the protagonist, and his journey of self-discovery. This occurs when he has a troubling realization about his marriage to Gretta and their connection with Death. Gabriel and Gretta attend the Morkan sisters' annual Christmas gathering, where Gabriel's social anxieties and unease become evident as he navigates through the event.

As Gabriel gets ready to depart from the party, he notices a woman deep in contemplation. The woman is standing at the staircase, absorbed in an old song that is currently playing. Gabriel gazes at her briefly before realizing that she is his wife. Her absent-minded and sentimental state stirs up sexual attraction within him. After the party, in the hotel room he has booked for both of them, Gabriel attempts to indirectly address this with her, but she remains unresponsive.

Trying to make ironic comments, Gabriel discovers that Gretta was experiencing nostalgia. When questioned further, Gretta reveals that the song reminded her of her first love, a boy named Michael Furey. Despite his severe illness, Michael braved the rain to visit Gretta one last time before she departed for Dublin. Tragically, he passed away mere weeks later, and Gretta believes herself to be the catalyst of his demise. She experiences a combination of guilt and pride for the love they

shared, shedding tears before finally succumbing to sleep.

Gabriel realizes that he never truly knew the woman he spent his life with. He discovers a hidden aspect of her life. He believes her memory of her first love will remain young in her mind, unlike his love which has aged along with his face. As he looks at Gretta's aged face, he wonders if it is better to die young and be remembered positively like Furey, rather than experience the hardships of aging and disillusionment. However, he questions why this matter concerns him.

Death is inevitable for everyone, even those who are currently happy and those who would remember us after we're gone. Gabriel looks at the falling snow outside the window, as it covers everything in oblivion. He believes death possesses a cold justice like how snow erases all remembrance.

COMMENTARY

Despite spending a lifetime together and building a family, Gabriel and Gretta still have unknown aspects of their lives, making them strangers in some regards.

Gabriel attempts to conceal his vulnerabilities from others, including his wife, who is oblivious to her husband's emotions. They spend an evening together without understanding or supporting each other, concealing their true selves. The fact that Gretta has never discussed her past love with Gabriel shows her affectionate regard for his memory, which weighs heavily on her conscience. They lead separate lives, showing little concern for each other except when they are required to play a role in their private desires and narratives.

This reflects the human attitude of recreating reality through fear and desire, rather than interpreting it with intelligence and rationality. The epiphany occurs when, at a certain point, it becomes

impossible to merge reality with our own personal fiction and Truth painfully strikes, shedding light on everything that was manipulated and concealed.

MORE ABOUT JOYCE'S MATURE WORK

Later in his life, Joyce embraced Modernist ideas in literature and sought to break away from traditional storytelling and depiction, which mirrored a society that no longer existed due to the devastating impact of the First World War.

Modernists were influenced by Freud's psychoanalytic theories and utilized interior monologue, which is the written expression of the stream of consciousness, to depict characters' inner worlds. The perception of time in narratives changed as well, influenced by Bergson's theories on time. Instead of being divided into discrete units, time's flow is now determined by personal feelings. The language used in these novels combines sophisticated discourse and specialized terminology with everyday vernacular. The intentional complexity of these novels opposes the rising mass culture, representing an intellectual avant-garde. "Ulysses" encompasses all these elements, as it primarily consists of interior monologues from various characters in early 20th century Dublin. Although there are many characters, some only make brief appearances, while the main protagonists are Leopold and Molly Bloom, an average man and his unfaithful wife, and Stephen Dedalus, a young poet who, like everyone else, is struggling with his life.

The book is constructed following the mythical method, which involves drawing parallels in structure and subjects between the Homeric epic and contemporary narrative. This approach organizes the chaos of that period while also comparing the heroism of one era to the ordinary suffering of another.