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The Dead Identity

1270 Words6 Pages

Encompassed in the Western Canon, James Joyce's complex narrative "The Dead," has been found to embrace a multifarious idea of enlightenment, regarding internal and external identity faced by the author himself. Joyce elaborates on Gabriel’s cultural and religious struggles, as well as his failing love life and overall enlightenment through an epiphany. Gabriel Conroy finds himself incapable of effectively communicating, relating to and impressing his peers, or even the slightest task of being able to flatter his wife. James Joyce’s “The Dead,” is laced with the juxtaposition of archetypical and self-identification conflict— Irish versus British, male vs. female, and success vs. failure. These oppositional energies construct a world in which …show more content…

Gabriel, the Protagonist faces a sensation of paralysis within his life exclusively concerning his religious views, cultural adaptations, and complicated marriage. Paralysis is defined by the loss of ability to move or feel within your body. The internal struggles faced by Gabriel through the story lead to him feeling stuck within a life he cannot get out of and he has no choice but to accept his reality within his marriage, religion, and culture. This alludes to the overall Epiphany he faces at the end of the …show more content…

British. He uses the concepts of a religious people in order to symbolize his trouble to understand the Catholic religion. The protagonist, Gabriel, is personified as someone who is not a fan of the Irish culture, and does not agree with his culture’s religious views. He holds the Catholic Church accountable for Ireland’s failure to move forward in society. For example, he portrays the Trappist Monks sleeping in their coffin and the most holy of clergymen as living dead. These theories suggested by Gabriel symbolize the main idea of his trouble understanding the intersection between life and death. Gabriel declares, “I like that idea very much, but wouldn’t a comfortable spring bed do them as well as a coffin?” The deceiving, tenacious comment above represents Gabriel’s lack of understanding regarding the Catholic Religion, and how uninterested he is to find

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