Examine some of the ways in which gender, class, history or colonialism feature in shaping identity and personal relationships in James Joyce's The Dead.
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James Joyce's, 'The Dead' is set in 104 Dublin and speaks of an age that has seen better days. Ireland is still a colonial province of Britain Ireland and has had to endure a financial and economic decline as well as moral deterioration.
The Dead is built around two major events an annual party at the Miss Morkans' house which takes place in the Christmas season and the night Gabriel Conroy spends in the hotel with his wife Gretta. The theme of the story is Gabriel's change, a change in his perception of himself, his love for Gretta and of his Irish background. It is at the party that we are introduced the Gabriel, an individual who becomes the main focal point in the story. Our initial impression of Gabriel is that he is self centred and selfish but as the story continues our feelings towards him evolve as he changes. Joyce paints Gabriel, his protagonist, as a supersensitive individual who lacks confidence in his own abilities, yet as with most insecure people, also convinced of his own superiority. Like Joyce himself, then, Gabriel self-consciously sets himself above the mainstream culture of Ireland. For the purpose of this essay I am going to focus on Gabriel and how class shapes his identity and also how it affects the personal relationships he has with other characters in the story. I believe class plays a central role in this story as Gabriel considers himself to be of a higher status than the others at the party. This notion is apparent throughout the story and consequently affects his personal relationships due to his overwhelming desire to be 'superior' to others.
When we are first introduced to Gabriel he has arrived late to the party and blames lateness on his wife by telling everyone "but they forget that my wife here takes three mortal hours to dress herself". In actuality they arrive late due to his obstinacy, as Gabriel does not like family functions, especially when there will be others present with whom he does not share common interests. "He stood on the mat, scraping snow from his galoshes", at first appears to be an innocent observation, however it is the first glimpse we have of Gabriel's need to associate himself with the continent and therefore diminish his Irish roots. He envisions Europe as a powerful continent, rich with a culture of art and literature and by insisting he and his wife wear these "fashionable" accessories he likens himself to a European and therefore re-shaping his identity to gradually become more associated with them. It is then later on in the scene that we are introduced to Amy Ivors " a friend of many years", whose love for Ireland and Irish culture provides a sharp contrast to Gabriels contempt. She accuses Gabriel of being a "West Briton" due to his writing in The Daily Express and first Gabriel is perplexed at this accusation and wants to respond with notion that "literature is above politics" but instead thinks better of it. She then invites him to go on an excursion to the Aran Isles but again Gabriel reveals his European desires but admitting they are venturing out of Ireland to "keep in touch with the languages" of other countries. This revelation is met with stark animosity and again shows Gabriel trying to develop into somewhat of a higher class than his family and acquaintances and consequently re-forming his identity.
Gabriel finds Dublin's society to be dull, uninspiring and stifling, which he therefore believes, reflects on the people living in the country.
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At the party, we view him as being uncomfortable which is emphasised in his contemptuous attitude towards the other partygoers, even as it also suggests that he is lonely and would like to feel included in their happiness.
When everyone eventually sets down to dine, Gabriel "liked nothing better than to find himself head of a well laden table", however "he set to his supper and took no part in the conversation". Gabriel is alienating himself from the other guests at the party as he feels he shares nothing in common with the other 'Dubliners'. Again this reveals Gabriel's constant need for high intellectual company, which in turn is related to class and something that he obviously feels is not evident at this particular table and the party in general.
Throughout the merriments of the party, we notice that Gabriel is preoccupied with a speech he is to provide. As someone who writes for a literary column he believes he has to live up to a certain reputation and his intention is to talk about a dead English poet, which again associates him outside of Ireland. When he comes to deliver his speech, he uses sophisticated language and erudite comparisons, for example comparing his aunts to "The three graces" in order to impress his audience but in doing this makes some very foolish mistakes. Whether his audience is aware of this is unclear but to us, the reader, it portrays Gabriel as being far too concerned with how he is perceived by other people and not making the most of the social occasion. On a broader scale, as far as his identity is concerned, he is trying to form a new and improved sophisticated model of himself to try and separate himself from his Irish connections, especially Dublin. However, to us as the outsiders, we see him as an increasingly more arrogant and selfish individual who considers himself to be "better" than those around him, including his family.
Language and failure to communicate is a very important theme in "The Dead" and throughout the story we find instances that illustrate how Gabriel is different from other characters through the language he uses, which is therefore closely linked with class. He is the consummate outsider as there are no characters with which he identifies or even feels particularly comfortable. We are shown this throughout the story but it is at its most fundamental when we are looking at his personal relationships, the first one being his brief interaction with Lily, the caretakers daughter. Lily has been the caretaker's daughter for years, yet Gabriel does not even know how old she is. His asking if she goes to school or is planning to be married supports this. Lily realises that he is not interested in her life and is just making conversation and responds to his question bitterly "The men that is only all palaver and what they can get out of you" which embarrasses Gabriel. In order to ease his discomfort he gives her a coin, thus asserting his own higher position to himself. This short interaction is the first we have between Gabriel and another character and immediately shows us his need to reassure himself of his own class.
The main relationship that is prevalent throughout the story but becomes more noticeable at the end is that of Gabriel and his wife Gretta. On the journey home from the party, Gabriel is occupied with "pure and clownish lust", whereas Gretta is experiencing a sad unfulfilled feeling of youthful promise and tragic loss, a memory provoked by a song sung by Bartell D'Arcy at the party. He becomes impatient at her distance from him and was "now trembling with annoyance…He longed to be master of her strange mood". Gabriel is angry; he is thinking passionate thoughts and wants to be the centre of her reflection but he is not. It is not until Gretta approaches Gabriel that he asks her if something is wrong but "she broke loose from him and ran to the bed and, throwing her arms across the bed rail, hid her face". We find out that Gretta is upset about a man from her childhood, Michael Furey, whom she believes died for her. It is when Gretta reveals her anguish that Gabriel suddenly becomes reflective about his own life and the mistakes he has made.
He is still somewhat conceited towards Michael Furey by questioning "what was he?" obviously regarding him as lower class, but realises that he has been too involved with worrying about acquisitive things in his life, such as what status in society he holds, to get to know his wife properly thus having a serious affect on his relationship.
Gabriel begins to feel her pain and is the beginning of his sudden epiphany. He recalls his ridiculous speech at the party and thinks about his public persona. Gradually we enter his consciousness and the words, in his voice, become increasingly lyrical. He realises how little he knows his wife, how little anyone knows anyone else. He thinks of the boy who died at seventeen and had said he didnt want to live, of the people at the party who would soon be shades themselves, and that he too is as transient as they. Gabriel feels unbearably sad; he is overcome with the tragic sense of life as he watches the snow "silently falling on the living...and the dead". He is in fact delicate like Michael Furey and he is not "spiritually dead" as people think he is but simply too concerned with less important aspects of life like his longing for absorption into a different culture than the one he knows and feels imprisoned in. He has been overwhelmed by the burden of the past, overwhelmed by the realisation of his misery, of his obsession with his class and now by the loss of a love that was once his only consolation. He realises that the other materialistic things in his life, such as status, are no longer important and Joyce makes the point that a life without passion, without intensity means that a person is essentially already "dead".
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