Dubbliners The Dead by James Joyce
James Joyce wrote “The Dead” in Rome in 1907. It is set on January 6th, 1904, on the Feast of the Epiphany, in Dublin, Ireland. This story is about people who are caught up in their own lives and who cannot comprehend what is really happening around them. This story also proves that the dead has an impact on the living. The setting takes place at a party and in a hotel room. The main characters are Gabriel Conroy, his deceased mother- Ellen Conroy, his wife- Gretta Conroy, and her deceased love-Michael Furey.
Gabriel was caught up in his own life and that caused him not to understand his wife’s thoughts and perspective on life. His family seemed to forget about the life they had once lived in the past. For example, Gabriel had resentment towards his mother. When she was alive, she disapproved of his marriage to Gretta. “She had once spoken of Gretta as being country cute and that was not true of Gretta at all” (Joyce 127). Gabriel’s mother Ellen and Gretta were in similar situations because they both came from poor backgrounds and they wanted the best out of life. However, Ellen forgot about her past situations, because she did not approve of her son marrying Gretta, because Gretta was from the westward part of the country. The West Side of Ireland was considered to be the low end of the country with poor people, uneducated families. It was also the part of Ireland that was most authentic. Even though Ellen was deceased, she had an impact on her son, because he did not want to go into details when his family members were asking him where his wife was from. He was ashamed to mention her background. In addition, Ellen Conroy had an impact on Gretta. The dead people in this story had an influence on Gabriel’s and Gretta’s life.
The Child Ballad #76 shows how “The Lass” (Gretta) in the story, prays to find “Lord Gregory” (Gabriel) to take care of her and her baby. However, “The mother” (Ellen) disapproves of this and tells her son that “The Lass” is going to cause him to die. In return, “Lord Gregory” (Gabriel) tells her; “My curse on you mother and my curse...