Reader Response to James Joyces The Dead Essays - 1072 Words

Reader Response to Joyces The Dead James Joyces story The Dead has a tremendous impact on the readers, especially those who are familiar with the political situation in Ireland at the time about which the Joyce wrote the final story in Dubliners. In exploring the meaning of James Joyces long short-story, The Dead, there are many critical approaches to take. Each approach gives readers a lens, a set of guidelines through which to examine and express ideas of the meaning of The Dead. Joyce himself said that the idea of paralysis was the intended theme of all the stories in The Dubliners of which The Dead is the final story. Of all critical approaches, reader†¦show more content†¦(138) The images reflect Gabriels ego in a sense, at the same for his marital relationship, and at the end death, which may not be physical but spiritual. Gabriel who is tallish and stout symbolizes authority and also wants to be perfect for all times. He has a mental block, which makes him believe that he is more superior and different than others are. Hes built a screen around himself, which stops him from identifying himself with the Common Man. The ...polished lenses and the bright gilt rims of the glasses which screened his delicate and restless eyes....(23,24). This image perhaps tells us that the glasses are the screen that partition his vision from the vision of others. Joyces intended theme of paralysis is exemplified in the symbolization of snow. In the story, snow has a major role as it symbolizes the political situation at the same time where everything was cold and dead due to the political uncertainty at the time. Snow also plays a major role as it interprets the reader to be on the alert, as things at the end are not going to be as smooth as Gabriel had predicted. This seen in the shift of mood when after the party had concluded, Gabriel and his wife are heading towards the hotel and hes in a veryShow MoreRelatedEssay about Literary Analysis: Clay and The Dead1336 Words   |  6 PagesLiterary Analysis: Clay and The Dead In the fifteen Dubliners stories, city life, religion, friends and family bring hope to individuals discovering what it means to be human. Two stories stood out in James Joyce’s Dubliners. One story attempts to mislead readers as it is hard to follow and the other story is the most famous story in the book. In the stories â€Å"Clay† and â€Å"The Dead,† James Joyce uses escape themes to deal with the emotions of the characters, Maria and Gabriel living in the DublinRead MoreAnalysis of The Novel Dubliners by James Joyce Essay1605 Words   |  7 Pages In response to his publishers suggested revisions to Dubliners, James Joyce elevated his rhetoric to the nearly Evangelical [and wrote]: I seriously believe that you will retard the course of civilization in Ireland by preventing the Irish people from having one good look in my nicely polished looking-glass1. A pivotal part of this looking-glass is Joyces representation of Dublin, which functions akin to an extern al unconsciousness in that a series of unrelated characters experience similarRead More Reader-Response Criticism of James Joyce’s Eveline from Dubliners2399 Words   |  10 PagesSubjective Reader-Response Criticism of James Joyce’s Eveline The subjectivity evident in literary interpretation is hard to deny. 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I will argue that the depths of this obscurity are not, in fact, murky; they are a response to his introspection about the nature of thought, and reflect a coherent theory. Joyce often repeats phrases, and he makes such repetitions noticeable in order to direct the reader to the questions: What is thought? And what are the unconscious