But that did not make him a West Briton surely. It was true that he wrote a literary column every Wednesday in The Daily Express, for which he was paid fifteen shillings. I didn’t think you were a West Briton.”Ī look of perplexity appeared on Gabriel’s face. “To say you’d write for a paper like that. “Well, I’m ashamed of you,” said Miss Ivors frankly.

I think Joyce accomplishes this very well with his use of beautiful language, but mainly through the contrast of the first and second parts of the storyģ: “Why should I be ashamed of myself?” asked Gabriel, blinking his eyes and trying to smile. Then, without warning, Gabriel learns of a boy cut in the prime of his life, making everything he thought important seem very small. The majority of the piece is a description of the party, it contains petty squabbles and self-consciousness as well as periods of great happiness. Gabriel, greatly sobered, stays up all night contemplating death.Ģ: Joyce’s purpose, as far as my feeble mind can comprehend, is to express the fragility of life. Just as Gabriel is about to make love to his wife, she begins to cry and tells him about a boy who died in the rain waiting for her. Gabriel and his wife go to a hotel for a night out. The party is great fun for everyone, ending with a toast Gabriel gives to kind dying generation of his aunt. Aunt Kate is having her annual Christmas party and has invited all her friends and relatives, most notably, her nephew Gabriel. 1: The story takes place in Dublin during 1916.

The dead james joyce analysis