Self-discovery in James Joyce's The Dead

Abstract

"The Dead" is the last, longest and most famous story of James Joyce's Dubliners. This study deals with the processes of self-realization of Gabriel Conroy, the protagonist of this story, who is a pompous master of ceremonies at the Christmas party of his old aunts. A number of external factors, especially assaults and humiliations, are trying progressively to break down the walls of Gabriel's circle of his own egotism. Within this process of events, we will be in touch with the power of the dead over the living and the past over the present.