Reading Analysis: Literary Analysis of The Dead

A major theme in "The Dead" is, unsurprisingly, death. The inevitability of it, the way it affects the living, and the way it connects us as human beings are all touched upon in the story.

One way the theme of death is conveyed in the story is symbolically, in the snow that is present throughout the story. We see it introduced from almost the very beginning of the story, mentioned as Gabriel enters the scene. He is taking off his coat as he enters the house, and it is covered in snow and ice. This is symbolic of how we can try to shield ourselves from death as Gabriel shields himself from the snow with his coat, but it will still impact us regardless, just as Gabriel is still covered in snow. In the following conversation about the snow with Lily, he comments that there is probably going to be snowfall that night. This is foreshadowing about the looming existential crisis Gabriel is going to have involving death. At the end of the story, when Gabriel begins to think about death, he stares out the window at the snow. It blankets everything he can see outside, just as he thinks to himself that death blankets everyone in the world. He notices that even when people are dead, they can still have an impact on the living, just as he feels a chill from the snow despite it being outside.

It's also symbolically important that the party he is attending is a Christmas party. Christmas occurs in the winter time, a time surrounded by snow which symbolically represents death in the story. However, it is a time where people come together and celebrate, make peace with one another, and connect in a spiritual way. This is how Gabriel ends up by the end of the story, feeling a connection to his fellow humans despite knowing now that he is surrounded by death.

Throughout the story, many insignificant little details about characters given. For example, it is mentioned that Lily used to sit on the lowest step of the stairs and nurse a rag doll, Aunt Julia is an inch taller than Aunt Kate, and Freddy Malins has thick, hanging earlobes. These details might just seem like padding or scene building, but I believe these constant details we are being given contribute to the theme of the story by making us realize just how many little details are wrapped up in each person. Gabriel realizes that everyone who is alive right now will one day be dead, and that is true of everyone who is currently dead. They all had so many details wrapped up in them too, but death is inevitable and takes everyone.

Perhaps the theme of death struck a chord with James Joyce because he felt it himself, with the loss of his mother. Or possibly, he saw the suffering in his home of Dublin and that inspired the theme of this story.