Peer Blog: Sam's Blog

PEER BLOG (SAM'S BLOG):

            Consider all the references to death, the dead, and dying throughout the text, what is their significance?  How does they influence/inform Joyce's title selection?

There are many references to death throughout “The Dead” that make you question what their significance is. Within the first couple of paragraphs we are already introduced to death, “For years and years it had gone off in a splendid style as long as anyone could remember; ever since Kate and Julia, after the death of their brother Pat,” (1946 NA). Already the story begins to speak of death. We also read the description of Gabriel’s Aunt Julia, “Her hair, drawn low over the tops of her ears, was grey; and grey also, with darker shadows, was her large flaccid face,” (1948 NA). The description hints to the reader that Julia will soon die. Throughout the rest of the story many of the characters reference dead relatives and friends and speak about them casually. I think that this is significant to the story because it symbolizes while you may be alive, death will always linger and be apart of your life. The title of the story, “The Dead”, is significant because it is plural. The story is not just about the death of Gretta’s first love Michael, but about all of the dead people in each of the characters’ lives.

Consider the names of the characters, specifically Gabriel and Michael--what is their origin/meaning generally and then consider their use in the text.

Gabriel and Michael are both biblical names. Gabriel is the angel that God sent to tell Mary that she was pregnant with Jesus. Gabriel is known as the angel of Christmas which is significant because “The Dead” is during Christmastime. While Gabriel is an outstanding figure in biblical text, Michael is considered the closest to God. Michael is the archangel and the commander in the Army of God. He is God’s “right hand man”, and is looked upon as the best angel there is. This is significant to the story because Michael was Gretta’s first and only true love. While Gretta may love Gabriel, he will never compare to her love for Michael.

MY RESPONSE:

            The constant reference to death is definitely seen throughout the text from the death of Michael Furey to the example of Johnny the horse. I agree with your viewpoint that death will always linger because death is one thing in our lives that one cannot escape. We all die, and since everyone does die it is seen also as a unification symbol.  Death is not a comfortable conversation for all people; however, in the story they seem to embrace death as they describe it so casually. In addition, symbolism is also seen in the names, such as Gabriel and Michael, and the snow at the end of the story. The snow represents the cycle of life-which everything changes, such as the snow melting, but overall stays the same. The ending quote, "His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead" (Joyce 1974) shows that the story starts and ends with the situation of death.