In the passage “The dead” written by James Joyce the character Gabriel is centered around literary devices such as symbolism and imagery. Gabriel the character spokes about in the story is and can be described as a close observant. Throughout the story the character is focused on the body of the dead. The dead body is vividly described by the passage. “Braved death” is the description of her seemingly dead body. It is inferred that the usage of the chosen phases is to serve respect to the unloving. He understands that respect has to be stated to the dead. He does so in such way that he gives respectful and vivid descriptions of the dead corpse. “His curious eyes” the symbol to his unending sight. The sight of the dead woman