Similarities Between The Dead And Araby

In James Joyce’s stories “Araby” and “The Dead”, both main characters fight deep inner battles that drive them to feel alienated. Alienation is depicted through the stories in different forms, spanning from the depiction of weather to the description of a neighborhood. Both characters have different manners in handling their inner battle. In Araby, the unnamed character is filled with anguish and retreats into the darkness of his thoughts. On the other hand, Gabriel feels himself becoming one of the deceased after understanding the love Gretta and Michael shared.
In Araby the theme of isolation is predominant from the start of the story. Right from the beginning he is filled with the feeling of being trapped. The street that the unnamed boy lives on is a dead end. This represents how the boy feels, deserted and severed. Every detail of his neighborhood exposes him to the feeling of isolation, “the short days of winter came dusk fell... When we met in the street …show more content…
Gabriel’s isolation takes place in the final scene of the story. After returning from the party Gabriel notices that Gretta was in deep thought. After finding out the reason for her deep sadness, Gabriel feels insignificant in her life. Coming to the comprehension that the feeling of love he shares for his partner is nowhere in comparison to what she shared with another man who died for her love, this starts the alienation in Gabriel's head. "His soul had approached that region where dwell the vast hosts of the dead" (Joyce 2124). Gabriels form of coping with this new information from Gretta is to reflect on the love they shared and compare it to the love she shared with her last lover, Michael Furey. “...for so many years that image of her lover’s eyes when he had told her that he did not wish to live”(Joyce 2199). Realizing the image of Fureys eyes was engraved in Gretta’s mind, Gabriel is left to believe Furey is still alive in her