Sean Ziaie Ziaie 1

Professor Rosenbaum

Literature and Composition

4 March 2024

The Dead is a short narrative by James Joyce. The story is actually a memory projected

from the mind of the protagonist, Gabriel, who relives a Christmas gathering in Dublin, Ireland

in the early 20th century. The narrative’s title carries with it a significant amount of the story’s

motifs. The most prominent motif that I believe carries the most weight in the narrative, that is

also reflected in the story’s title, is the motif of death, fate, or mortality. In this sense,

interpreting the title as the motif of the novel can be done in a very literal manner in this

instance.

The story provides insight into the inevitability of aging, and deals with death on a literal,

and metaphorical basis. Gabriel’s final realization at the end of the narrative is that death is

always approaching, which is conveyed through the line; “One by one, they were all becoming

shades” (Joyce 30). The characters in the dead and the legacies they leave behind are discernible

reasons for why Joyce chose to name the story the way he did. This is conveyed through another

one of Gabriel’s lines where he states; “...we shall still speak of them with pride and affection,

still cherish in our hearts the memory of those dead and gone great ones whose fame the world

will not willingly let die.” (Joyce 18). This clearly demonstrates the overarching theme in the

story that everyone will die, but their legacies continue to live on.