42731008 structural symbol in joyce s the dead

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Structural Symbol in Joyce's "The Dead"

Author(s): Brendan P. O HehirSource: Twentieth Century Literature, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Apr., 1957), pp. 3-13Published by: Hofstra UniversityStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/440479

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TWENTIETHENTURYITERATA SCHOLARLY AND CRITICAL JOURNALVolume3,Number lpril, 957STRUCTURAL SYMBOL IN

JOYCE'S "THE DEAD"BRENDAN P. O HEHIR

James Joyce'sshortstory, TheDead," is a moralityplay cast inthe form fan Aristotelianragedy.The questionofdestiny r freewillis neither sked nor answered, ndhamartia eemstocoincidewith in.Joyce oes not define hedegreeofresponsibility abriel Conroybearsfor his own guilt and thereforemoral judgmentmustbe suspended. "The Dead," as itstitleimplies,is also a ghost tory. his fact sob-servedbyJoyce's rother tanislaus,who classifies he storyas "aboutghosts: hedead whocomebackoutofenvyforthehappinessof the iv-ing."' Such an unsympatheticudg-ment, f true,must be applied toghosts more vindictive than Mi-chael Furey's unhappy shad e,though venhe, in hisname,seemsto carryconnotationsof the Eu-menides.But justification f thesegeneralities must depend uponanalysis fcertainneglected spectsofthestory.At GabrielConroy'sfirstappear-ance in his own person in "TheDead," on the third page of the

story n the Modern Library edi-tion,2his first ct is to scrape thesnow fromhis galoshes.That thesnowhas a symbolic alue has beennotedbyalmost very ommentatorupon thestory, ut littleattentionhasbeenconcentrated pon thega-loshes.3They cannot be equatedwithGabriel himself-theyre "ac-cidents" inhering n his "essence"-but, takenat facevalue, they reperfectlydequate symbols ocoun-tervail he snow.Galoshesexist pe-cifically o resistsnow, to protectand insulate against it. Further-more,galoshes are artificial,man-made defiancesof nature and theelements.They typifyman's pride-ful but punyattempt o defeattheeternal nd overwhelmingniverse.Man must shelter himself,or atleast his feet, in his overshoes;thereforeGabriel's galoshes, andnot himself,mostadequatelysym-bolize oppositionto the snow.

But Joycehaselaboratedthesig-nificance f Gabriel's galoshes ntothesymbolickeyto his tragicposi-tionbetweenhiswife nd theghost


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of hismother.n the Dublin oftheConroysand the Misses Morkangaloshes are exotic importationsfrom broad,viewed withthesamesuspicionas all things ontinental.Gabriel'simportation fgaloshes-a.maternally-inducedcharacteristic-is an index of hisalienation fromthenormsof theambientculture.Analysis f a passage early n thestorywill extricate some of themeanings tangled in associationwith Gabriel's galoshes.4Gabrielhas joined his wifeand his aunts

upstairs,whereconversation urnsabout his prudentplan to spendthenight t theGreshamHotel intown rather than travelhome toMonkstown: "But as for Grettathere," he remarks,"she'd walkhome in thesnowifshe were et."Gretta'srejoinderidentifieshermorecloselywiththeparty f thesnow, and revealshow unsympa-thetic he is towardhisattempts ocontrolhis environment:"Don't mindhim,AuntKate,"shesaid. "He's reallyan awfulbother,whatwith reen hades orTom'seyesatnightndmaking im o thedumb-bells, nd forcingva to eat thestir-about.The poor hild!And he implyhatesthesight f it! . . . O, but you'llneverguesswhathe makesme wearnow!"Shebroke ut intoa peal of augh-ter..."Goloshes!" said Mrs. Conroy."That'sthe atest.Whenevert'swetunderfootmust utonmygoloshes.Tonight ven,he wantedme to putthenmn, but I wouldn't. he nextthinghe'll buyme will be a divingsuit."#Grcttawould let naturetake itscourse with her childrenas with

the weather. Gabriel dominateswhathecan,andwhathe cannothewill shutout,by galoshes, abs and

hotelrooms.Grettathinkshis pre-cautions absurd,but humorshimwhen shecan. However twould betooridiculous o weargaloshesto aChristmas arty-the eryword ug-geststo her thecomicdialect of ablackfaceminstrelhow. A correctunderstandingfthestory's nfold-ingrequires wareness hatthisdif-ference f view existsfrom hefirstbetweenMr.and Mrs.Conroy.Theestrangementf husbandand wifewhich, in its progress, onstitutesthe substratum f theplot,began,or was at leastforeshadowedeforethe opening of the story,whenGretta, t homein Monkstown, e-fusedto wearhergaloshes.Aunt Julia representsanotherform f hostilityo galoshes. hedoesnotevenknowwhat heyre.Aunt Kate, herselfunsure,at-tempts, ithGretta's elp,to ex-plain.Julia earns hat aloshesre"'guttaperchahings" that you"wear veryour oots":"Yes," said Mrs. Conroy."Gutta-percha hings.We both have a pairnow.Gabriel ays veryoneears hemon thecontinent.""0, on the continent,"murmuredAtunt ulia, odding erheadslowly.By now a numberof corollariescan be deduced from the opposi-

tion of galoshes to snow. On theone handwemayread thestrife fartificegainstNature,and on theotherwe maysee theshadowof asecond dichotomy: the continentagainst Ireland. These setsof op-positions are in interplay,through-out the story,and the galoshesthemselvesdo not entirelydisap-pear untiltheirfinaldefeatby thesnow.At thebeginning f thethird"act" of thestory"hey eappear ntheir proper identity, by whichphaseof thetragic ction thewords4


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ilthis golosheswill have come tosignifynhis rashpride. See below)Snow and galoshes,howeveref-fectively heyfunction s symbols,are littlemore than symbols.Therealities behind them can be dis-tinguished pecifically nly by fol-lowing carefullythe dramatic ac-tions of Gabriel Conroy.Gabriel's first ontact with an-otherperson n thestoryn hisdis-astrous encounter with Lily, themaid. Her bitterretort o his con-descendingpleasantry bout mar-riage, and the backfireof his at-temnpto regain control of the situ-ation by giving her money,forcehim to panicky retreat upstairs.Lily's complaint,"the men that isnow is only all palaver and whatthey an get out ofyou," (p. 227)ironically paraphrases what thereader later learnsabout Gabriel'srelationshipto his wife,and maythereforeubconsciously tingGa-briel's mourpropre,butherspeechhas also a more overteffect. ily'ssyntax nd vocabulary re of a so-cial class lower thanGabriel's,andshe pronounceshis last name withthree yllables.Like James Joyce,Gabriel Con-roy s sensitive o soundsand wordsand speech."His ownspeech s pre-cise,but he is notso snobbish s tobe disturbedby thevulgarity f amaidservant.What disturbshim isthe reminder of vulgarity'subiq-uity. reland is unrefined,nd Ga-briel mustconstantly alsify is ex-periencen order o forget his.Vul-garity forced upon him ripsthrough his insulation and un-nerveshimuntil he can repair thebreach. He recognizeshe will notbe safer among the company up-stairs than he was with Lily-hefears he discoursehe has preparedfor the eveningwill be over theheadsofhishearers:

Th'lc ndelicate lackiigof the incn'sheelsand theshufflingf their olesreminded im that heir rade fcul-ture differed romhis. He would onlymake himself idiculous y quotingpoetry o themwhich hey ouldnotunderstand.heywould hinkhathewasairinghissuperiorducation.iewouldfail withthemust as he hadfailedwith hegirl n thepantry.p.229)

Throughout '"The Dead" thereis a marked class-conscious aware-nessof speechlevels.The drunkenjoviality of the "screwed"FreddyMalins is setoffagainsttheopaquegarrulousness f his mother,whoshareswithhima catch n thevoiceand a slight tutter. he odious Mr.Brown,wearetold, assumed verylow Dublin accent so that theyoungladies,withone instinct, e-ceived his speech in silence." (p.235) Later in the eveningBrownpuns atrociously n his own name.Uncultivated peechsurroundsGa-briel, ust as does thesnow,and bythe end it has penetratedthe ob-tusenesshe wears ikea divingsuit,to drownhispride.Early in the second "act," longbeforetheghostof Michael Fureyhas begun to stirunderthemoon-greynettles nd blackmouldof hisgrave,the first f therestless eadwho give the story tsname enterstherising ction.While MaryJancMorkan playson thepiano a diffi-cult and unrewardingAcademypiece, Gabriel, unlistening andnursinghis irritations, llows hisattention odrift o thepictures ntheroom.Firsthe seesa representa-tionof thebalconyscenefromRo-meo and Juliet, nd beside it a de-pictionof themurderedprinces nthe Tower-emblems of Love andDeath, with Death coiled in theheart of Love-the major themes

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of thestoryn whichhe is himlselfan unconscious actor. A photo-graphofhis mother s also in view.Gabriel's thoughts enter n her.The late Ellen Conroy,nedMor-kan, had differed rom her sisters.Aunt Kate called her "the brainscarrier,"but she had lacked theMorkan musical talent. She hadbeen serious and matronly,and"very ensibleof thedignity ffam-ily ife." (p. 239) (Of herhusband,Gabriel's father,we learn nothingbuthisname and place ofbusiness:"T. J. Conroy of the Port andDocks.") Ellen was the guidinghand in the upbringing of hersons,whattheyweretoday hehadmade them-"thanksto her, Con-stantinewas now senior curate inBalbrigganand, thanks o her,Ga-briel himselfhad takenhis degreeirn heRoyal University."t is alsotlanks toher, nemaybe sure, hatGabriel was able to think of hisiiother's sistersas "two ignorantold women," and to call PatrickMorkan, his mother's father, a"glue-boiler."It is thanks to herdriving social ambition to tran-scend the world of the starch-millin Back Lane and themusicpupilsbelongingto "the better-classam-ilies on theKingstown nd Dalkeyline" (p. 225) thathe had acquiredhis breadth of view, his contactswith the continent-in short,hisgaloshes. Yet Gabriel was not en-tirelyhappy in rememberinghismother: A shadowpassedoverhisface as he remembered er sullenopposition to his marriage. Someslighting hrases he had used stillrankled in his memory;she hadonce spoken of Gretta as beingcountry ute and that wasnot trueofGretta t all." (p. 239)Gabriel had beenat thecenter fan unresolvedconflict etweenhismother and his wife.As duty re-

quircd, Gabriel sided withGretta,and yet his mother'sphrasesran-kled. Obviously the conflicthadnever been resolved.The ghostofEllen Conroyhad neverceased toinsinuatethatGrettawas "countrycute." This accusation Gabrielcould only ncessantlyeny,and attimes,as when Gretta laughed atthe urbane prudenceof a civilizedman,when she refused owear hergaloshes and ridiculed his, it wasparticularly nnoyingto have hismother's auntsfloatup again, re-quiringhisdesperate enial.Immediatelyafter this recollec-tionofhismother,Gabriel encoun-tersMolly Ivors. With his motherin theplot,theaction is now fullyunder way. The encounterrevealsmorefullyGabriel's character ndattitudes, nd during t his self-re-gardingpridebeginsto corrupt n-tohybris.MollyIvors is a foil,an external-ized projectionof a hidden aspectofGabriel. They are both thesameage, since "they were friendsofmany years'standingand theirca-reershad been parallel, firstt theUniversity nd then as teachers."(p. 241) But she is a Gaelic en-thusiast, e an admirer fcontinen-tal literature. n everywaythey reantipodal and yet akin. In theirquarrel he cannot get the best ofher-"he could notriska grandiosephrasewithher"-and wherehe isperplexedand agitated, he has thelastword.The occasion of thequar-rel isMolly'sdiscoveryhatGabrielis the "G. C." of book reviews nthe Daily Express, an imperialistnewspaper.For this she calls him"West Briton,"-a hybridneithertruly British nor Irish. Gabrielwants to say that he places litera-ture above politics, but his re-1pressedolitical self is on Molly'sside: "She had no right o call him6-


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a WestBriton . . even n joke."(p.244) Molly lacespoliticsboveliterature,ut herrepressediter-ary elf s theonlyonein thecom-panycapableof appreciating a-briel'snterests:she iked his]re-view mmensely."p. 242) Gabrielpermits imself o wonder boutMolly's incerity,nd half onsidersher neofthedead:"Had shereal-ly any ifeof her ownbehindallherpropagandism?"p. 246) ButMolly ouldequallywonderfGa-brielwere eally live, or hererehints hat hedoes havea lifeofher own;-her"warmgrasp"andfirmressingf hishand,togetherwithher"softfriendlyone"andwhispersn hisear, and all thoseshiftsn herbehavior hatpuzzleGabriel, ndicatethatMiss Ivorsfeels orhima chastepassionun-perceivedyhis dehumanizeden-sibilities.He does not, certainly,feelsafely uperior o Molly:"Itunnervedhim to thinkthatshewouldbe at the upper-table,ook-ingup at himwhilehe spokewithher riticaluizzingyes." p. 246)The nextroundof thecombatgoesalso to Molly.Her invitationto Gabrielto comewithhernextsummern a tripwestwardo theAran Isles is a directchallenge.The compromisefpolitics o lit-eraturewhichMolly had compre-hended in the epithet"West Brit-on"-a compromise n itselfsym-bolic and symptomaticf thecom-promises f Gabriel's life-is trans-lated intosimpleterms f concretegeography. From Dublin as thecenterone may traveleitherwest,to theAran Isles,or east,to Franceor Belgiumor Germany.Gabriel'scompromises re tenable only solong as he remains unaware ofthemas compromises.Molly'sforc-ing him fromthe middle groundunnerveshim and rouses him to

recklessness.hen hedemands fhim an explanation orhischoiceof theeastwardourney,hereplyis an explosiveutburst:"O, totellyou hetruth,"etortedGabrieluddenly,I'm ick fmy wncountry,ick f t." (p.243)TwiceMiss vors sks himwhy,buthe remains ilent. Of course,you've oanswer,"heproclaimstlast.And Gabrielhas no answer.Hisdifficultyiesdeeper han n is-sue of summer olidays, r even

politics-in region fhismindherefusesoexplore.A review fpartofhisconversationithMollywillindicate hereal source f theheatinhis retort.Molly's nvitationotheAran sleshadofcoursenclud-ed Gretta:"Itwould esplendidorGrettaooif she'd ome. he'sfrom onnacht,isn't he?""Her people are," said Gabrielshortly.p. 242)Gabriel'ssharprejoinder ndi-cates that echoesof his mother'sslightinghrasesurkwithinMissIvors' innocent uestion.To thesuggestionhatGretta amefromConnacht,Gabrielreacts s if tothe accusation hat he is countrycute. nstinctivelye denies he m-

putation,ndseparates retta romher countryness,onceding urtlyonlythat"herpeople"mayhavebornethe taint.Two pageslaterthisflimsyquivocations blownaside by Grettaherself,ssertinghertruenaturewith hefrank n-premeditatedevastationf snow-storm.hewants oknowwhatwastherowGabrielhad withMollyIvors:"Therewas no row," aidGabrielmoodily,only hewantedmetogo

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fora trip to the westof Ireland andI said I wouldn't."His wifeclaspedher handscxcitedlyald( gave a little ump."O, do go, Gabriel," she cried. "I'dlove to see Galway again." (p. 245)This is no simple case of husbandand wife at cross purposes. Gabrielhas had his face set resolutely to-ward the East, away from any ac-knowledgment of Gretta's country-ness. Now Gretta confronts himwith the ineluctable fact, and hecan only respond by rejecting her:

"'You can go if you like,' said Ga-briel coldly." (p. 245)Here is the dramatic turning-point of the story. t is not merelyatiff between Gretta and Gabriel.She has forced to his attention hercountry origin, her westerness,andrather than confess the fact to him-selfand to his dead mother,Gabrielin effectdivorces his wife. This re-jection is his tragic error, andGretta herself is not unaware thatshe has been cast off:

She looked at him for a moment,then turned to Mrs. Malins and said:"There's a nice husband for you,Mrs. Malins."IHenceforthGretta is a freeagent,owing allegiance to no one but her-self. Gabriel has released her toreturn alone to Galway, and that isexactly what she does. Every actionnow will hasten Gabriel to hisdoom.Unmindful of impending fate,Gabriel consoleshis mind with avision of the Wellington Monu-ment.Although ironicallycappedwith snow, it remainsa splendidEastern symbol.Wellington,him-self Dubliner,had made hismarkto theeastward, n Franceand Bel-giumand Germany,nd a gratefulBritishnation had erected to his

glory he obeliskwhich toodabouta mile away,in plain sightof theMisses Morkans' house. Gabrielhas no insight nto themeaningofthe snow,nor does it occur to himthat Wellington's Monument is es-sentially no more than a tombstone.For him themonumentrepresentsan ideal serenitylooffrom hevul-garturmoil f the Christmasparty.7As the partyat the Morkans' pro-gresses, amishedhostsof thedeadflock to the feast, pressing in likethe shadesaround Odysseus.WhenAuntJulia singsbeforedinnerherold song,Arrayedfor the Bridal,the intensity f the followingap-plause is conditionedby the un-spoken prescience that Death issoontobe herbridegroom. ater inthe night,afterhis own calamity,Gabriel will recall this awareness:"Poor Aunt Julial She, too,wouldsoonbe a shade ... He had caughtthat haggard look upon her facefora momentwhen she was sing-ing Arrayedfor the Bridal." (p.286) At dinner the conversationruns, s naturallytmightnJoyce'sDublin, to opera-and concert-sing-ers. But soon in reminiscences he(lead artistsof the past drift, nebyone, to thetable. The talk thenturnsunaccountablyto the Trap-pistmonks f MountMelleray,wholive in unbroken ilenceand sleepin theircoffins,o remindthem, sMary Jane puts it (anticipatingthestory's inal entence),"of theirlast end." The topic,grownlugu-brious,ends at last, "buried in asilence of the table .. ." (p. 258)As Gabriel stands to begin theafter-dinnerpeech that has beenweighingupon his mind all eve-ning,he turns ncemoreforsolfh:eto a mentalviewof theWellingtonMonuiment:The WellingtonMon-umentworea gleaming ap ofsnowthIt flashed westward over theti


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whitefieldof FifteenAcres." (pp.259-60) Here the monumentstilldominates thesnow,but there s acurious ugglingofperspective. a-briel visualizes the monumentattheeast ofhis mentalpicture, inceits snow-cap "flashed westward"over the Fifteen Acres, and theWellington Monument in fact iseast of the FifteenAcres. But themonument s west of the Morkanhouse on Usher's Island, Gabriel'sactual position. Therefore, n fo-cussinghis thoughton his Easternsymbol,Gabriel'smind has traveledwestward, ast themonument, asteven thewhitefieldof theFifteenAcres,to take itsviewof theflash-ing monument from the fartherwestern hadows.The speech itself s interwovenwith similar unconscious ironies.Gabriel had fearedhis talk wouldbe over theheadsofhishearers ndhad thought f his aunts as ignor-antold women,but toscore pointoff Miss Ivors he determined tocater to his audience.Althoughhisattackon Mollywas pointless, inceshehad leftbefore upper, hestrat-egymade hisspeech mmenselyuc-cessful.Later Gabriel would char-acterizehis behavior as "actingaspennyboy orhis aunts .. oratingto vulgarians. . ." (p. 283), but forthepresent uccess ntoxicates im.His tribute o his auntsringswithsincerity,nd he deliversa pane-gyricupon the Irish national vir-tue of hospitality,which he hasneverfoundequalled in all of hisexperience abroad. Having toldMolly vorshe was sickofhiscoun-try, e poursforth hefulsome ul-ogiesofa patriotic rator.But eveninto Gabriel's toastmastershiphelugubrious note of the table-talkenters,forhe invokes"thosedeadandgonegreatoneswhosefametheworld will not willingly et die."

And not only the great are deadand gone--"there re always,"Ga-brielcontinues, in gatheringsuchas this adderthoughtshatwill re-cur to our minds: thoughts f thepast,ofyouth, fchanges, fabsentfacesthatwe missheretonight. urpath throughlife is strewnwithmany such sad memories . . ." (p.262)In that gathering,her thoughtsof the past and of Galway freshlystirred,and with her heart sad-dened byherhusband'srebuff,itsGabriel'swife,Gretta.Unwittinglythe melancholywords reflectthecircling of her mind throughthoughts f youthand changes,tosadder memories fMichael Furey.But Gabriel is oblivious of suchpossibilities-hegoes on to homil-ize: "We have all of us livingdutiesand living affectionswhich claim,and rightlyclaim, our strenuousendeavors."Yet it is preciselybydisowninghis livingdutiestowardsGretta, n conformityo thevaluesof hisdead mother, hathe permitshis wife'sdetached ivingaffectionsto fastenupon thememory f herdead lover. His tragic failuredi-vertseach of them fromthe livingto the dead.The third "act" opens as theparty s breakingup. While Grettais dressingupstairs,Gabriel tellsa tale about his grandfather,thelate lamented Patrick Morkan,"and his horse,Johnny.At thecon-clusion of his anecdote, "Gabrielpaced in a circle round the hall inhis goloshesamid the laughterofthe others." (p. 267) In thusmock-ingthe dead Gabriel showsthefirstsymptoms of the madness thatcomesfrom xcessofpride.Upstairssomebody s "foolingatthe piano," and Gabriel, lookingupward, sees a woman, his wife,"leaning on the banisters, isten-9


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ing."He cannotmake ut what heis listening o,but thinks fherasposed for a picturehe would call"Distant Music,"-little suspectinghowdistantfromhim she is.8Gret-ta is listeningto Bartell D'Arcysinging, n the old Irish tonality,with a voice made plaintive andhoarseby a cold,wordsexpressinggrief.What Gretta ctuallyhears-distant,hoarse,waveringn theoldIrish tonality-is the voice of herdead lover, Michael Furey. Eventhe ong'swords voke him:0, therain fallson my heavy ocksAndthedew wetsmy kin . .When Gretta comes downstairsGabriel observes color on hercheeks and her eyes shining;--"asudden tide of joy went leapingout ofhisheart," (p. 272) -but shedoes not turn towardshim.

"Mr.D'Arcy,"hesaid, what s thename ofthat ongyouwere inging?""It's calledThe Lass ofAughrim,"saidMr.D'Arcy ."The Lass ofAughrim,"herepeat-ed. "I couldn't hink f thename."In a groupoffourthey eave thehouse, and, unable to finda cab,walk eastward long thequays.Ga-brielwalks withMissO'Callaghan,his mindintoxicatedwiththoughtsof his wife.Gretta,however,walks

ahead throughthe slush,withoutgaloshes,alongsideBartell D'Arcy,the embodiment f her dead past.They all catcha cab at the cornerof Winetavern treet, nd Gabriel,in thegrip of ate on thislast tripeastward, antasiesGretta nd him-selfgallopingto catchtheirhoney-moon boat. In highspiritshe callsa gaygreeting o theghostly now-coveredstatue of Dan O'Connell.But the cab seemsmore akin to ahearseor a coffinhan to a honey-moon coach: "the horse galloped

along wearily under the murkymorning ky,dragginghis old rat-tlingbox afterhis heels." (p. 276)T'he horse, ike all livingcreatures,is cumberedbythetrappings f hismortality.At the hotel,drunkwithdesireforGretta,Gabriel "felt that theyhad escaped from their lives andduties, escaped from home andfriendsnd runawaytogetherwithwild and radiant heartsto a newadventure." (p. 277) He does notrealize how trulyall old life hascome to an end. At first e is en-raged by Gretta'sapparent failureto reciprocatehis desire, nd whenfinally he comes to him along theshaft of "ghastlylight from thestreetlamp"-the only lluminationof this climacticscene-he misun-derstandsthe realitythus symbol-ized. He misses the point entirelywhen she kisses him saying,"Youare a very generous person, Ga-briel." (p. 280) His infatuationmakes him think she is yieldinguntil, n a burstoftears, hespeaksof The Lass of Aughrim and of thesingerwhohauntsher-a person heknew once in Galway. The dullangergathering t the back ofGa-briel's mind involves then morethan thwarted ust. His mother'sold taunt and the incident withMolly vors coalesce n thisremind-er of Gretta'sgirlhood.The angergrows from the fear that a vitalthreatmaycrouchin thatwesternbackgroundhe had dismissedandignored almost out of existence:"'Someone youwerein love with?'he askedironically." p. 281)In the subsequent scene occurswhatAristotle alls the Tragic In-cidentwithReversal of Intention.Gabriel's ironic probing,his sud-den suspicionthatGretta wantstogo toGalwaytoresume n old love-affair (he so desperatelywants to

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deny the real claims of her back-groundthathe is willingto accepta base motiveforhis wife'sdesireto revisit the west) are set offagainstGretta'sgrieving,nnocent,childlike responses. Each reply-unmeditated, nsubtle,guileless-isdevastatingto Gabriel's elaborateposition:

"Whatwas he?" askedGabriel, tillironically."He was n thegasworks,"hesaid.(p.282)The lasttwist f the knife omeswhen Gabriel's anger has ebbed,when his lust has cooled, and hetoo is sorrowful. n genuine sym-pathy-forGabriel is a verygen-erousperson-he asksher:"Andwhatdid he die of so young,Gretta?Consumption, as it?""I thinkhe died forme" she an-swered.p. 283)Gretta's tale of Michael Fureyflowson, in the cadences of hernative rustic dialect. Gabriel nolonger flinches roma syntax essculturedthan his own. "I wasgreatwithhimat thattime," he begins,and her long reverypours slowlyout:

hewas ll .. andwouldn't e letout.... He was in decline, hey aid,orsomethingike hat. never new ight-ly. . . We used to go out together,walking, ouknow,Gabriel, ike theway hey o in the ountry.e wasgo-ing to studysingingonly for hishealth. . . And when t came to thetimeforme to leave .. I wouldn'tbe let seehim o I wrote ima lettersaying ... wouldbe back nthe um-mer, nd hopinghe wouldbe betterthen... Thenthenight efore left. .. I heardgravel hrownp against

thewindow. he windowwas so wetI couldn't ee,so I ran downstairssI was and slippedout the back intothegarden ndtherewas thepoorfel-lowat the ndofthegardenhivering.. . . I imploredof him to go home atonce and told him he wouldgethisdeath n therain.But he said he didnot want o live. can seehiseyes swellas well!He wasstandingt theendof thewallwhereherewasa tree.. . . Andwhen wasonly week nthe onvent e diedand wasburiednOughterard, here his people camefrom., theday heard hat, hathewasdead! (pp. 284-85)

Gabriel's artificial world col-lapsesundertheslowdrift fGret-ta's memories, nd he is left aloneat theend withthe realitieshe hasevaded. His pride undone, he isfallen, nd is leftto gropehis wayblindlytoa newreconciliationwithlife-on termsmuch humbler thanbefore.Gretta obsherself o sleep,and a short ime aterGabriel him-selflies down unresentfullyesideher: "So shehad had thatromancein her life: a man had died forhersake. It hardlypained himnow tothinkhowpoor a parthe,herhus-band, had played in her life." (p.285) Lookingback soberlynowup-on his foolhardy pride, his con-sciousness s filledwithdeath. EvenGretta s touched with t: "He didnot like to sayeven to himself hather face was no longer beautiful,but he knew thatit was no longerthe face forwhichMichael Fureyhad braveddeath." (p. 286) In hismind the ghosts gather: PatrickMorkan and his horse; poor AuntJulia-soon,too,tobe a shade-oneby one they were all becomingshades. In the partial darknesstheform fMichaelFurey ppears,standingundera dripping ree.Ga-briel's soul "had approached that11


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regionwheredwell the vast hostsof the (lead. . .. His own identitywas fadingout into a grey mpal-pable world: thesolid world tself,whichthese dead had at one timereared and lived in,was dissolvingand dwindling." (p. 287) To hissleepymind as he turns to watchthe snow fallingobliquely againstthe lamplightoutside thewindow,a phrase occurs: "The time hadcome forhimtosetout on his our-neywestward." (p. 287)The meaning of this "journeywestward"has been adumbratedthroughout he story, nd yet onthe literal level it has no signifi-cance at all, for Gabriel hadplannedno tripwestward. he ref-erencecannotpossiblybe to MollyIvors' holiday trip, since that isprojectfor the following ummer.The journey s a symbolic ormula-tionfromGabriel'ssubconscious fthe east-west attern n which theactivityof his life has been ex-pressed, nd marks a completere-versal of his orientation.For Ga-briel the thought-oneof thegreatelementaltropesof human experi-ence-can onlymean thatthe timehas come forhim to turn towardthesettingun,and tojourney,notto theAran Isles, but to Aran oftheSaints,the Isles of theBlest inthe dim Atlantic. The time hascomewhenhe mustacceptthefactthat ife s inseparablefromdeath,when he mustaccept his own mi-nuteness n the scale of eternity;wheAlhe must begin, in short,to(lie. The snow symbolizesdeath'segalitarianand pervasivepresence.It fallsfaintly,ike the descentoftheir ast end, upon all the livingand all thedead, and blots out dis-tinctions between them. GabrielConroy's wooning oul follows hesnow in an ever-westeringourney,

fromWellington'sMonumentwest-ward acrossthe whitefieldof Fif-teen Acres,across Ireland's "darkcentralplain . . . the treelesshills... theBog of Allen and, fartherwestward . . the dark mutinousShannon waves"-to the crookedcrosses nd headstones fthe onelychurchyard n the hill whereMi-chael Furey lies buried. (p. 288)Gabriel mighthave expressedthequiescence of his resolved meta-physicalrelationshipwithhis wifeand his wife's buried lover in thewordsof a poem by JamesJoyce,She WeepsoverRahoon:Dark tooourhearts, love, hall ieand coldAshis sadhearthas ain .

The story oes notof courseforcethe extreme conclusion that Ga-brielConroydies a literal deathina room of theGreshamHotel. Heis dead, in theChristian enseonly,to theWorld; or, n thevernacularsense of the same words, asleep.Later in theday he will rise fromsleep, into a purified ife,and re-turnhome with Grettato Monks-town, where life is lived in theawarenessof death. Sunsetis a ne-cessary ntecedentto sunrise, andin a senseGabrielmaybe identifiedwith the sun. It is already earlymorningwhen he goes to bed andbegins his journey westward,sothat his mental voyage not onlyfollowsthe path of the snow, butanticipatesthat which the sun isto follow.Gabriel's tragicfall is essentiallya fortunate ne. Death is the chiefproblemof life and tragedy s thevicarious xperience f death.Withthe dyinghero we approach thatregion"wheredwell the vasthosts

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of the dead," and withhis rebornspiritwe revive nd puton immor-tality.Gabriel Conroy may havesinnednddied,buthebecomes,nlthe nd, "foenixulprit."'The JohnsHopkinsUniversity

'Stanislaus Joyce,"JamesJoyce: AMemoir," trans. Felix Giovanelli,Hudson Review, II (1950), 502.2Dubliners (New York, 1926), p.226. All page referenceeshenceforthto "The Dead" are to thisedition.!Since thispaper was written, re-cent article has been called to my at-tentionwhichestablishes everalpointssimilarto those made here about thegaloshes and Gabriel's mother-Mor-gan Blum, "The ShiftingPoint ofView: Joyce'sThe Dead' and Gordon's'Old Red'," Critique I (Minneapolis,Winter, 1956), pp. 48-49. However, IthinkMr. Blum failstomake clear thedichotomybetween Gabriel (and hismother) and the Misses Morkan. Ga-brielhimselfs the sole sourceofdeni-gration of his ancestry-his terminghis grandfather the old gentleman"indicates not snobbish defensivenesson his partbut deference o his aunts.4The passage runs from page 230(the kissingof Gabriel by his aunts)to page 232 (the interruption f theconversationby the arrivalof FreddyMalins)"By the word "act" I mean each ofthe three dramatic divisions of thestory, he first f whichends on page238 and the second on page 264.,Galway is the chief town of Ire-land'swesternmostrovince, onnacht,off he coast of which ie the Aran Is-lands.7A perhaps pertinent bservation sthe factthat in Ireland a Wellingtonis also a "guttaperchathingthat youwearoveryourboots."Boots are shoes,and Wellingtons re knee-high ubberstorm-boots.8This scene has been analyzed byAllen Tate in "Three Commentaries:

Poe, James,and Joyce,"Sewanee Re-view, LVIII (1950), 1-15. Later re-printed in Allen Tate and CarolineGordon, The House of Fiction (NewYork, 1950).OAttempts aybe made (ill-advised-ly, believe) to interpret abriel Con-roy'swesternourney n terms educedfromJoyce'sapparent personal pref-erencefor ands east of Dublin. But ajourneyin one directionor the othermay be inevitable-it is only themid-way point, the position of the West-Briton,that s untenable. The tensionbetween east and west can never beunambiguouslyresolved. An interest-ing textformeditation n thisregardis an entry reflectingmany of thethemes f "The Dead" in the notebookkept by Stephen Dedalus prior to hisown Icarus-flight astward to New-haven-Dieppe-Paris A Portraitof theArtist as a Young Man, Modern Li-brary,pp. 297-298):April 14. John Alphonsus Mulren-nan has just returned rom hewestofIreland. European and Asiatic papersplease copy.He told us he metan oldman there in a mountain cabin. Oldman had red eyesand shortpipe. Oldman spoke Irish. Mulrennan spokeIrish. Then old man and Mulrennanspoke English. Mulrennan spoke tohimabout universe nd stars.Old mansat, listened, moked, pat. Then said:-Ah, theremust be terriblequeercreatures at the latter end of theworld.-I fear him. I fear his redrimmedhorny yes. t is withhim must trug-gle all through hisnight illdaycome,till he or I lie dead, grippinghim bythe sinewythroattill . . . Till what?Till he yield to me? No. I mean himno harm."

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42731008 structural symbol in joyce s the dead

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