Questions:
- The story opens with “Lily, the caretaker’s daughter,” taking the guests’ coats. She is the first character with whom Gabriel interacts, and he is rattled by their conversation. Look carefully at the way that Gabriel describes Lily’s role in the Morkan household. Why do you think that he answers Gabriel so sharply? Why does he give her money? Why is he “discomposed by the girl’s bitter and sudden retort”?
2. The Morkan sisters’ party takes place on the Feast of the Epiphany, celebrated on January 6 and commemorating the visit of the Magi, or the three kings, to the baby Jesus. Although the feast day has different interpretations and is celebrated in different ways, most churches agree that it commemorates the manifestation of Christ to the world. SO, why do you think that Joyce chose this specific day for the setting of “The Dead”?
3. Who do you think the dead are in “The Dead”?
4. Gabriel watches his wife at the top of the stairs: “There was grace and mystery in her attitude as if she were a symbol of something. He asked himself what is a woman standing on the stairs in the shadow, listening to distant music, a symbol of.” Try to answer Gabriel’s question!
5. For a story called “The Dead,” there is quite a bit of humor. List several (as in more than two) examples of Joyce’s sly sense of humor.
6. The dinner, which is the centerpiece of “The Dead,” is filled with sensuous details. How does Joyce pace the description so that the reader is caught up not only in the food, but also in the swirl of conversation and conviviality?
7. How does the tone of the party shift at the end of the party? Examine the way Joyce makes the transition from the party to Gabriel’s very private contemplation of Gretta.
8. What is Gabriel’s epiphany? What causes it?
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