The short story, “The Dead,” is written by James Joyce. In this story, the protagonist is a married man, Gabriel Conroy. He is an intelligent, influential, and introverted character. His wife is a gracious and kind woman who seems to aim to please her husband. On the outside, they appear to be a perfect, loving couple; however, the reader quickly discovers that is not the case. At the beginning, Gabriel is easily exasperated by his wife but, by the end, his feelings toward her are altered. Throughout the story, the protagonist’s view of his wife changed from an object of frustration, to an object of lust, and to an object out of his control.
In the beginning of the story, the couple is introduced as they arrive to the Morkan’s annual dance. …show more content…
Sang-Wook Kim supports idea this saying that “in reality, he appeared much more emotionally fragile than Gretta, as illustrated by how easily he was embarrassed by such unfamiliar experiences as Miss Ivors’s slanderous remarks about his philosophy of internationalism, his wife’s unusual stiffness, or Lily’s unexpected rejoinder” (16). Gabriel desired to be in control of seemingly all of his relationships but that was a challenging objective since he was short-tempered and irritable. An example of this is when he endeavored to capture her attention in order for him to show his mastery over her; however, his attempts were to no avail due to her “strange mood” that he longed to be master of (Joyce 650). When his wife disclosed her story of her deceased lover, Michael Furey, he has an epiphany and finally comprehends that he does not have full domination of Gretta due to her inability to forget Michael. Epiphanies play a major role in a story. It is an experience of a sudden and striking realization. In the story, “The Dead,” Gabriel evolves from a man who sees his wife as an object of his emotions into a man who accepts his wife as an individual. When he discovered Gretta’s past, he has his epiphany. Sang-Wook Kim writes on this
In the beginning of the story, the couple is introduced as they arrive to the Morkan’s annual dance. …show more content…
Sang-Wook Kim supports idea this saying that “in reality, he appeared much more emotionally fragile than Gretta, as illustrated by how easily he was embarrassed by such unfamiliar experiences as Miss Ivors’s slanderous remarks about his philosophy of internationalism, his wife’s unusual stiffness, or Lily’s unexpected rejoinder” (16). Gabriel desired to be in control of seemingly all of his relationships but that was a challenging objective since he was short-tempered and irritable. An example of this is when he endeavored to capture her attention in order for him to show his mastery over her; however, his attempts were to no avail due to her “strange mood” that he longed to be master of (Joyce 650). When his wife disclosed her story of her deceased lover, Michael Furey, he has an epiphany and finally comprehends that he does not have full domination of Gretta due to her inability to forget Michael. Epiphanies play a major role in a story. It is an experience of a sudden and striking realization. In the story, “The Dead,” Gabriel evolves from a man who sees his wife as an object of his emotions into a man who accepts his wife as an individual. When he discovered Gretta’s past, he has his epiphany. Sang-Wook Kim writes on this