The Inevitability Of Death In James Joyce's The Dead

“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. Gabriel’s story takes place during his aunts’ annual dance. Throughout the night we are confronted with the fact that this year is just like every year - Freddy is drunk, Gabriel is to give a speech and carve the goose, the same people sing and play for them, etc.- except for Gabriel himself. He spends most of

“The Dead” is truly a warning against falling into society's monotony and letting your life and death blur together to the point that neither have any meaning. It shows us an in depth look at the feelings that come with going through the motions, the isolation and anxiety of a life not lived. It forces us to see how quickly we are all headed towards death and how little we do to live in the meantime. We all too often choose instead to blend in and flatten out. And eventually, like Gabriel, we will face the reality of life and death, whether we are ready or not. “His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the