The story ‘The Dead’ in the collection ‘Dubliners’ was written by James Joyce. This story happened at the annual dance that was held by Kate and Julia Morkan and their Mary Jane, Gabriel Conroy and his wife Greta attended. Lily the maid had arguments with Gabriel, and soon they ended the conversation, but it made Gabriel anxious. There were two alcoholics, Freddy Malins and Mr. Browne. The party continues, Gabriel begins to chat with a fellow university instructor Ms Ivors. Ms Ivors felt ashamed of Gabriel because of his opposition towards his own nation Ireland. Gabriel admitted that he was sick of Ireland. Just before dinner, Ms Ivors exited the annual dance. During the dinner, Gabriel made his speech that included the compliments of Kate, Julia and Mary. He also claimed that people should be enjoying the current time with people who are alive. Gabriel was enamored with Greta and wanted to have sexual relations with her, but she was not in the mood, because she was recalling her former lover that died for her.
We should reflect on our own problems in the first place rather than refute others. Even though the opinions were different, respect and modesty are the basics. In the story ‘The Dead’, Gabriel had been shocked three times by three women. His first shock came from the conversation with Lily. Gabriel ridiculed Lily that she was destined to marry a good man, but Lily didn’t think men are good. The second shock was from Ms Ivors. She doubts Gabriel’s loyalty to his country, and the truth was Gabriel was sick of Ireland, which Miss Ivors felt ashamed of. The third shock came from his wife Greta. She was thinking about other men than her husband, because those men died for her. Gabriel was anxious about himself. He was shocked, because he thought the women had offended him, but actually his behavior also made the women uncomfortable. Gabriel didn’t show respect to those three women, and he didn’t realize that it was he who affected the women. To figure out our own problem first rather than criticize others is way more important. The disputes might be caused by different opinions, but we should show our modesty and respect to everyone.
Live and dead can be exchanged with each other, a dead person can still be ‘alive’, so as a living person can be dead. No matter if a person is living or dead, their spirit still exists, and it is their decision to choose how they are going to ‘live’. In this story, Mary Jane Morkan’s father Patrick Morkan was dead, because of him, his sister left the original house and moved to the present house. Gabriel’s mother was definitely a good mother, she was being responsible for Gabriel’s future when she was still alive. But she was also strict, that she opposed Gabriel's marriage with Greta, which made Gabriel extremely uncomfortable that he was still aware of. Michael Furey died when he was seventeen, but he died for Greta, which still affected her after years. But for people who wasted their life on wines like Freddy Malins and Mr. Brown can be called as living dead, life has no value to them. People who used their life to do the valuable things were still memorable to the living.Even though they are dead, they can also change things of the living, and they can be remembered and respected.
Being a citizen, it is the principle to love and respect our own nation.We should never abandon or criticize our country, because the country never betrays its citizens. In this story, Gabriel met Miss Ivors in an annual dance. Miss Ivors felt ashamed for Gabriel, because he was Irish, but he managed to criticize Ireland in the newspaper. Ms Ivors asked him if he would like to visit the Aran Isles in summer, but instead he chose to visit Germany and France. Gabriel also claimed that Irish was not his first language, he preferred to learn French and German. He then admitted that he was sick of his own country, which shocked Miss Ivors. Some people were intrigued by other countries, because the new culture is a kind of freshness, which seems better than their own country.But it doesn’t mean it was allowed to criticize their own nation, and flatter the others.
In conclusion, the story ‘The Dead’ from the collection ‘Dubliners’ written by James Joyce was a story that is worth exploring its themes. We should reflect on our own problems in the first place rather than refute others. Even though the opinions were different, respect and modesty are the basics. Live and dead can be exchanged with each other, a dead person can still be ‘alive’, so as a living person can be dead. No matter if a person is living or dead, their spirit still exists, and it is their decision to choose how they are going to ‘live’. Being a citizen, it is the principle to love and respect our own nation. We should never abandon or criticize our country, because the country never betrays its citizens.
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