In the novel How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C Foster elucidates the significance of sharing a meal with others, and how who is included in the communion directly clarifies what type of situation is occurring, whether it be peaceful or not. It is said that whenever people eat or drink together, it is considered to be a communion. In chapter one “Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Communion” Foster states that the most common assumption that readers make when contemplating the subject of communions is that they assume the gatherings are religious, however that is not always the case. Generally communions are situations where intimate thoughts and feelings are shared primarily because the process of eating is particularly a personal …show more content…
By bringing in the reader and letting them witness the tension and conflict, Joyce attempts to do what most writers desire, let the reader feel as if they are actually there and included in that scene. Since the reader is so closely tied to the story and each minor detail, the reader realizes that the protagonist, Gabriel Conroy, shares something in common with the other characters seated at the table, as well as the reader themselves. “The thing we share is our death” (Foster 9). All of the characters in that room will eventually die and that is foreshadowed by the title of the book, however the characters in the novel are unaware of that. People also share similarities in the fact that everyone’s lives are different ranging from the major life changing events, to the tiny details at the surface that make up who you are. The activity of having dinner has numerous meanings that are either presented on the surface or deeply hidden beneath a few details, however the end goal is similar no matter which way the piece of literature is formatted, the author wants to convey to the reader that the characters are doing more than just eating, there are many factors at play, some of which have the ability to change the entire projected storyline of the