What Meaning do the Dead have in James Joyce´s "The Dead"?

Abstract or Introduction

Before, while and after reading The Dead by James Joyce one question seems omnipresent – not least because of the title: What connection does the narrative have to the dead? This question yields another one, namely “What does that mean?”

In order to approach these two questions appropriately and to reach epistemically satisfying conclusions, I propose a simple structure which allows us to consider the issues in question. Firstly, we will look at three elements of the storyline: The environment, the people and most importantly Gabriel. Each element will be investigated concerning its role and meaning for the whole story and as to how appropriate connections between elements could be drawn. Following this, we will be able to rank the elements in regards to their importance with reference to the answers to our initial questions. Obviously Gabriel is the most important element and hence will help us best to deliver answers to our questions. Therefore we must take a closer look at him.

I will argue that Gabriel is the key element in answering the first of our initial questions. The whole narrative culminates in the end, when Gabriel realized that he was only a substitute for the deceased Michael Furey – the early love of his wife Gretta, if not the love of her life.

The answer to the second question is that the special circumstances which generate a paradoxical connection are nothing more than the inflexible and rigid attitudes of people who interact with their surroundings and cause them to be rigid and uniform.