The Dead Literary Analysis Essay

767 Words2 Pages

James Joyce’s short story “The Dead,” uses the presentation of ideas to set the stage for the surprising and intense ending of the story. Ideas of coldness and darkness fill the rhetoric of the narrative. Subtle but consistent mentions of death in a non-dismal manner also take a huge part in setting the stage for the unexpected ending of the story. It is the presentation of these ideas, rather than the plot of the story itself, which almost subliminally prepare readers for the conclusion of the narrative. “The Dead” is set in the winter time. It seems that this detail neither adds, nor takes away from the story. However, the setting of the cold season sets the stage for the end of the story, which brings rebirth to a story of demise. Of all the four seasons, winter signifies death- Life is generally not created in the winter season. This is a time of death before the rebirth brought on by the spring equinox. The constant mention of the cold season also aids in the recurring presentation of the idea of darkness. …show more content…

Even within one paragraph, the word may appear more than once. It seems that everything is dark in “The Dead.” Julia, Kate, and Mary Jane live in a “dark, gaunt house,” the stairs in their home are dark, even the next morning is dark (Joyce). At one point in the story, darkness is used to describe a character’s appearance: “Her blue felt hat would show off the bronze of her hair against the darkness and the dark panels of her skirt would show off the light ones” (Joyce). The repetition of the word “dark” almost subliminally sets the tone for the story, and plays its part in setting the stage for the final scenes of the

Show More
Related

  • Poetry Explication Of Susan Mitchell's The Dead

    685 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Susan Mitchell’s poem “The Dead”, the speaker describes the life of a dead person to show that those we lose aren’t truly gone. The poem starts out talking about what dead people do in their afterlife, starting to form a picture in the reader’s head. Towards the middle, she starts using personal connections and memories associated with what the dead are doing. This shows us that they will always be there to remind us of memories shared together. At the end of the poem, the reader shows us that she is talking about someone who has passed that was close to her in her childhood. Perhaps Mitchell wrote this trying to get over the loss of a loved one, showing that they will never be forgotten. The poem has a

    Read More

  • A Lesson Before Dying Literary Analysis

    1111 Words  | 3 Pages

    Thomas Paine once said “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” Conflict is an obstacle that many characters in books go through. It is what drives the reader to continue reading and make the book enjoyable. Additionally, authors use symbolism to connect their novels to real life, personal experience, or even a life lesson. In “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee and “A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J. Gaines, both take place during a time where colored people were being looked down upon and not treated with the same rights as white people. However, both novels portray the conflict and symbolism many ways that are similar and different. Additionally, both of these novels have many similarities and differences that connect as well as differentiate them to one

    Read More

  • As I Lay Dying Literary Analysis Essay

    970 Words  | 2 Pages

    “As I Lay Dying, read as the dramatic confrontation of words and actions, presents Faulkner’s allegory of the limits of talent” (Jacobi). William Faulkner uses many different themes that make this novel a great book. Faulkner shows his talent by uses different scenarios, which makes the book not only comedic but informational on the human mind. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner is a great book that illustrates great themes and examples. Faulkner illustrates different character and theme dynamics throughout the entire novel, which makes the book a humorous yet emotional roller coaster. Faulkner illustrates the sense of identity, alienation, and the results of physical and mental death to show what he thinks of the human mind.

    Read More

  • Death and Reality in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates

    1268 Words  | 3 Pages

    Death and Reality in "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates

    Read More

  • Barren Lives in James Joyce's The Dead

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    "One day he caught a fish, a beautiful big big fish, and the man in the hotel boiled it for their dinner" (p.191). Little did Mrs. Malins know that those words issued from her feeble old lips so poignantly described the insensibility of the characters in James Joyce's The Dead toward their barren lives. The people portrayed in this novelette represented a wealthy Irish class in the early twentieth century, gathered at the house of the Morkan sisters for an annual tradition of feast and dance. Although all of the personages had, at one point, a potential for a beautiful life, sad memories of the past and the despair that invaded Ireland had eventually boiled all true senses and desires into a dull stew, destined to rot. Of particular interest is Gabriel Conroy, whom Joyce singularly bestowed a gift of introspection, though that did not save him from becoming yet another of the living dead.

    Read More

  • James Joyce The Dead Sympathy Essay

    1107 Words  | 3 Pages

    James Joyce’s “The Dead” is a short story about the self realizations of a man named Gabriel Conroy. C. C. Loomis, Jr. author of the critique Structure and Sympathy in Joyce's “The Dead” believes that this self realization or epiphany “manifests Joyce’s fundamental belief that true, objective perception will lead to true, objective sympathy. ”(C. C. Loomis 149) Loomis further explains that for the reader to experience this objective sympathy, he or she must experience the self realization with Gabriel's character by understanding his emotions.

    Read More

  • The Dead Poets Society Analysis

    1007 Words  | 3 Pages

    So, the Dead Poets Society was about an English Teacher at the Welton Academy for Boys who was trying new methods of teaching so he will be able to actually get through to the boys. The boys are also under a lot of pressure by their parents and the rest of the members of the school. The problem with Mr. Keating (the English Teacher) was that his method of teaching is very different from how the school has been doing things in the last decades. Mr. Keating has been teaching the boys that they need to pursue their dreams and believe in romanticism. This leads to a path of destruction for Mr. Keating.

    Read More

  • The Inevitability Of Death In James Joyce's The Dead

    751 Words  | 2 Pages

    “I don't want to survive. I want to live.” This fairly popular quote can also serve as a summary of Gabriel Conroy’s character in James Joyce’s short story “The Dead." As we read, we see the toll that monotony has taken on Gabriel and, by the end, he sees it as well. This realization is coupled with another, much darker, realization: the inevitability of death. We see signs of these ideas sprinkled throughout the story, from the predictability of the guests to Gabriel’s constant anxiety when talking to the other guests and his long for an escape. These occurrences come to a head when, upon reaching their hotel, Gabriel’s wife Gretta tells him of the boy who didn’t want to live without her, and who died to see her. This story leaves Gabriel with a sudden understanding of love, life, and death, that changes his way of thinking about everyone, including himself.

    Read More

  • The Sleeper Literary Analysis Essay

    1056 Words  | 3 Pages

    Death can both be a painful and serious topic, but in the hands of the right poet it can be so natural and eloquently put together. This is the case in The Sleeper by Edgar Allan Poe, as tackles the topic of death in an uncanny way. This poem is important, because it may be about the poet’s feelings towards his mother’s death, as well as a person who is coming to terms with a loved ones passing. In the poem, Poe presents a speaker who uses various literary devices such as couplet, end-stopped line, alliteration, image, consonance, and apostrophe to dramatize coming to terms with the death of a loved one.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis

    1386 Words  | 3 Pages

    Author James Joyce has written many short stories which were composed to explain Dublin’s way of life. The book is known to his readers as Dubliners. His short stories have been written to help readers understand the many different feelings that were established in Dublin during a time of crisis. During this time in Dublin many changes were occurring and the city was rebuilding from the tragic potato famine and certainly rebuilding as a country. In three certain stories, “The Sisters”, “An Encounter”, and “The Dead,” the literary symbols of escape and journey appear within individuals which are always trying to run from the problems of society. These actions taken help understand why the characters have feelings of escape and run from the society of Dublin in this era. Certainly, in all three stories the major theme expressed can be determined when individuals try to escape society and the reality of Dublin.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Mary Oliver's 'When Death Comes'

    1381 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the first instance, death is portrayed as a “bear” (2) that reaches out seasonally. This is then followed by a man whom “ comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse / / to buy me…” This ever-changing persona that encapsulates death brings forth a curiosity about death and its presence in the living world. In the second stanza, “measles-pox” (6) is an illness used to portray death’s existence in a distinctive embodiment. This uncertainty creates the illusion of warmth and welcomenesss and is further demonstrated through the reproduction of death as an eminent figure. Further inspection allows the reader to understand death as a swift encounter. The quick imagery brought forth by words such as “snaps” and “shut” provoke a sense of startle in which the audience may dispel any idea of expectedness in death’s coming. This essential idea of apparent arrival transitions to a slower, foreseeable fate where one can imagine the enduring pain experienced “an iceberg between shoulder blades” (line 8). This shift characterizes the constant adaptation in appearance that death acquires. Moreover, the idea of warmth radiating from death’s presence reemerges with the introduction to a “cottage of darkness” (line 10), which to some may bring about a feeling of pleasantry and comfort. It is important to note that line 10 was the sole occurrence of a rhetorical question that the speaker

    Read More

  • James Joyce's The Dead - Gabriel's Search for Self

    3564 Words  | 8 Pages

    1 Joyce, James : The Dead , Norton Anthology of English Literature Vol.2, sixth edition

    Read More

  • The Dead by James Joyce

    1573 Words  | 4 Pages

    Morrissey, L.J. "Inner And Outer Perceptions In Joyce's 'The Dead'." Studies In Short Fiction 25.1 (1988): 21. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. http://catalog.cumberlandcountylibraries.org:61080/ebsco-w-b/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=7693b223-8004-4e94-90d1

    Read More

  • The Dead

    1427 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Modernist movement of the early twentieth century England drastically changed the way literature was perceived in Western society. Modernism has a lot to do with how individuals relate to the world around them. Mainly, it focuses on a deep mistrust and alienation of long time and old institutions like government, religion, and family. “The Dead,” from James Joyce's collection Dubliners, is on its surface a fairly simple story. A man and his wife attend a holiday party, but during the course of the party, and the after hours that follow, we see a character struggling to accept his place as a man aging in a new world. Also, at the end, we see in the story Joyce's development of the important Modernist literary technique: stream-of-conscious,

    Read More

  • The Theme of Death in "The Dead"

    1150 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although a scene of a funeral home might come to mind when a reader first hears a short story aptly named “The Dead,” the tale actually takes place in the festive setting of a winter dance at the home of the two aunts of the main character, Gabriel Conroy. James Joyce’s short story “The Dead” has a literal title, because its main concept is death – both physical death and spiritual death.

    Read More

More about The Dead Literary Analysis Essay

Open Document