the dead

[Anonymous No.14861645]

How do you think about the conversation between Gabriel and his wife in "The dead", about the boy who died for her long ago?

[Anonymous No.14861656]

I haven't read it for a very long time. I remember questioning if I was missing out on subtle queues due to my autism, and I wasn't sure if his wife was implied to love him less because of her memories of the boy or if it was just Gabriel assuming that. Maybe if I re-read it now it would be more obvious to me.

[Anonymous No.14861704]

>>14861656
I guess the husband realized he was being held up against an impossible standard. One that wasn’t even real. It was the ideation of his wife that would only get more distorted over time.

[Anonymous No.14861805]

>>14861704
I think you're right. It's just sad being the husband hearing his wife talks about someone that way. It's when he knew he was never play an important role in her heart

[Anonymous No.14861810]

>>14861645
ESL? “HOW do you think about” doesn’t sound right.

I think the obvious conclusion is that Gabriel’s wife will forever have a part of her heart tethered to the young boy who died. Because of his death, he exists in an ideal state, there is no opportunity for the intensity of the love to cool, so he is kind of impossible to compete with. He also died “for her” in a way, so he can’t compete with that without dying himself.

One thing I haven’t seen mentioned by anyone else, that I picked up on the last time I reread Dubliners (my 4th or 5th time) is a romantic tension between Ms. Ivors (the Irish nationalist) and Gabriel. One can speculate on whether this is a previous history between the two, or something new and unspoken, foreshadowing an affair in Gabriel’s future (this would fit thematically, as a contrast to Gabriel’s wife’s confession). I felt Mrs. Ivors was more teasing than vindictive in her reproach of Gabriel for his lack of Irish pride, but I brought this up when I read Dubliners for a class as well as with an older lit friend who likes Joyce, and neither one noticed this.

[Anonymous No.14861870]

>>14861810
Yes, English isn't my native language. What is the correct way to say "what do you think about"?
What you noticed is really interesting, but it makes sense though. I'll read it again soon, so thanks for bringing this detail up

[Anonymous No.14861883]

If I've read Dubliners and Portrait, and vastly preferred the former to the latter, should I even bother with Ulysses?

[Anonymous No.14861968]

>>14861883
Yes. Dubliners is superior to Portrait and Ulysses is superior to both.