Moldovianu Gabriela R-E,AN III,GR.

II

The Revelation
The story is built around two major events:the party at the Misses Morkans house which takes place in the Christmas season and the night Gabriel Conroy spends with his wife Gretta.The theme of the story is Gabriels change a change in his perception of himself of his feelings for Gretta and of his !rish roots.Misses Morkans annual dance is a reason for friends and members of the family to see each other but in the story the party is just a prete"t to observe Gabriel Conroy. The story is narrated in the # rd person singular.$e are given some e"tra information about the characters through this narrative voice information that is not included in the dialogues.%owever the narrator is not omniscient and doesnt know everything about everybody.The narrator slips back and forth from making e"ternal observations to registering the inner thoughts of various characters.&ometimes also the narrative voice adopts a characters way of speaking.The narrator begins the story by using 'ilys kind of language:('ily the caretakers daughter was literally run off her feet.(The opening sentence draws our attention to the use of language in the whole story which is very often metaphorical and symbolical. The development of the characters is revealed to us as we read about them.!n The )ead we learn mostly about what is going on in the head of the main character Gabriel.'anguage and the failure to communicate is a very important theme in The )ead.Throughout the story we find instances that illustrate how Gabriel is different from other characters in the way he uses words.Gabriel is often artificial and does not speak from the heart.*lready after he has entered his aunts house he is unable to have a pleasant conversation with 'ily.Gabriel is a very sober man.%e is somehow unable to understand women in general including his wife Gretta.%e thinks hes superior to 'ily. Gabriel is very preoccupied with the speech he will be giving at the party.%e writes for an +nglish newspaper and his reputation forces him to produce an impressive speech.%is intention is to talk about a dead +nglish poet although nobody will be interested and he also wants to praise his aunts hospitality while he thinks about them as ,only two ignorant old women(. *nother contrast between Gabriels way of talking and how other party guests speak is his avoidance of !rish words and e"pressions.This becomes obvious during a dance with Miss !vors a teacher who is proud of her !rish identity and uses Gaelic words. The - nd part of the story presents Gabriel and his wife in the hotel.%is wife is very open and sincere with him.Gretta tells her husband about Michael a boy she knew when she lived in Connacht and who died for love of her.The memory of Michael was triggered by a sad song Gretta heard at the party.,The 'ass of *ughrim(. $hen Gabriel looks into the mirror he sees another man than he e"pected.The mirror shows his real self his true identity.%e realised he had changed.%e had a revelation. This short story is a very symbolic one.&ymbols and symbolic names draw attention and intensify Gabriels development toward insight.There are many details that have to do with

death the $est and snow which are connected.There are some references to dead people or people e"pected to die:Gabriels e"pectation that aunt /iulia will be dying soon his intention to talk about a dead +nglish poet Gabriels spiritual death and rebirth. The storys first word.'ily is also the name of a flower ('ily( is synonymous with white therefore with purity.!n some cultures white and not black is the colour of mourning.&he can symboli0e the omnipresent idea of death.The lily can also signify the accomplishment of the antithetic possibilities of the being. The name Michael is related to the archangel Michael who is often referred to as the *ngel of )eath.Through Michael who was young and sincere death has a positive connotation.*s someone who lived and died young in a small town in the $est Michael especially is connected with !rish mythology about the land of the dead which is situated at the ultimate west coast of !reland. Gabriels aunts are ,dead in life( they live in the past and give death a negative connotation.The aunts never married and their life is associated with the life of the monks mentioned in a conversation who are celibate and live in coffins. 1n the verge of Gabriels inner change we may consider that not only Michael is the name of an archangel Gabriel is one as well.*rchangels are messengers from God.Gabriel announces life when he tells Mary she is pregnant with /esus.!n the end Gabriel has a vision of Michaels grave covered with snow and becomes compassionate.Michael represents everything Gabriel is not and would not want to be until he has his revelation. The snow may signify an upcoming change in Gabriel a desire to get away from being dead in life.&now covers up and erases or buries Gabriels past giving him the possibility to live a new life and reevaluate his relationship with Gretta.The snow seems to join the living and the dead the romantically lost and the practical present but it does more than stir memory and desire2it offers a momentary vision of a release from time and from purely temporal and mundane preoccupations. !n The )ead /oyce developed the stream of consciousness techni3ue.Towards the end of the story this techni3ue reveals to us Gabriels most personal way of thinking.