Discussion Topic
The climax of "The Dead" by James Joyce
Summary:
The climax of "The Dead" occurs when Gabriel Conroy learns about his wife Gretta's deep feelings for her deceased first love, Michael Furey. This revelation profoundly impacts Gabriel, leading him to a moment of epiphany and self-awareness, as he realizes the depth of Gretta's past emotions and the superficiality of his own life.
What is the climax of "The Dead" by James Joyce?
In Joyce's short stories, the climax comes at the moment of epiphany or sudden revelation. The term epiphany refers to the Wise Men who saw and recognized that the infant Jesus was the Messiah. In Joyce, epiphanies are internal climaxes where a main character realizes something in a flash of insight that causes him to see the world and his own life in a new and different way.
All through this story, Gabriel has been associated with snow, which is a symbol of death and stasis. At the end of the Christmas party, when he is alone in his bedroom with his wife, Gabriel realizes that his wife has had life and love apart from him with her former beloved, Michael Furey, who died at seventeen. As the snow falls, Gabriel suddenly realizes that the dead impact his life as much as anyone else's in Ireland, and he realizes that...
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he too shares a connection with the dead.
The climax of this incredible story comes at the end of the tale, after Gretta has told Gabriel about her former lover, Michael Furey, and his unfortunate demise. After this revelation, Gabriel watches his wife sleep and ponders the meaning of Michael Furey and experiences a massive epiphany, or revelation about himself and his place in the world:
One by one they were all becoming shades. Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age.
Gabriel compares himself to Michael Furey and finds himself wanting, realising that although he had a short life, he lived his life fully and "passed boldy" into death rather than doing what he is doing and "fading and withering" dismally into old age and death. Gabriel realises that his life is spent not really living: he has never loved anyone else truly and throughout the story seems obsessed by what others think of him and doing and saying the right thing. It is this moment that represents the climax of "The Dead," as Gabriel is left to decide what to do with this moment of tremendous self-knowledge.
What occurs at the climax of "The Dead"?
The climax of "The Dead" features a breakdown in Gretta that is preceded by a near-breakdown in Gabriel. The two experience emotional turmoil for quite different reasons.
Gabriel begins to watch his wife closely as they prepare to leave the party. He sees her listening intently to a song being sung. She is the only person who recalls the name of the song. The details of the narrative, given through the character of Gabriel, suggest that Gretta has undergone a change of some kind.
Gabriel and Gretta return to their hotel, where Gabriel becomes frustrated and upset. He desires to make love to his wife - and to express his affections for her verbally - but she resists. Gabriel enters a state of agitation when this happens. His mind begins to race.
Then Gretta tells Gabriel about a young man she once knew and loved who died when he was seventeen. Gretta breaks into tears at telling the story and Gabriel finds himself internally at odds. He wishes to be vindictive but finds himself acting and speaking kindly.
He does not feel kind. The lack of control over his emotions is a central idea in the text and takes an important role in this moment, the story's climax. Gabriel is subject to his emotions, as the climax unfolds, not the other way around. This situation is something of a trap.
Earlier Gabriel thought about how nice it would be to take a walk, alone, outside in the snow. He wishes to be free and in command of himself. His inability to achieve this is finally overcome when he experiences some empathy for his wife, accepting the feelings that he cannot control.
He feels his soul has reached the place of the dead and that the living world is becoming nonexistent, as if he is outside his body.